Snape's Little Brother
by BlueMoon007
Summary: 15 year old Harry gets de-aged and sent back to 1976. Dumbledore decides to place him with the Snape family.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I got this idea from another apparently abandoned story, I've tried contacting the author to see if I could adopt their story. I haven't heard back yet so I'll give a brief summary here of the background and where I'm starting from and the rest is mine, and of course J.K. Rowlings.**

 **June 1976, Severus is about to finish his 5th year at hogwarts and is 16. He's currently on the outs with Lily after calling her a mudblood.**

 **June 1996, Harry (15) has just witnessed Sirius death, when meeting with Dumbledore his emotions get the better of him and he has both a tantrum and a severe case of accidental magic destroying Dumbledore's office and knocking Harry out.**

 **June 1976, Harry wakes up in Dumbledore's office in his 7 year old body - 20 years in the past. Somehow Dumbledore knows who this boy is that suddenly appeared in his office and for some reason can't or won't try to send Harry back to his time. Instead he contacts Tobias Snape to take in Harry and changes Harry's appearance slightly so he doesn't resemble James Potter as much (namely fixes his eyesight and lightens his hair slightly)**

 **At this point Dumbledore is unaware of how horrible the Dursleys were to Harry. Tobias is not an abusive arse as he is in the books but he is very strict and tends to favor corporal punishment over other options (consider this your warning- its the 70s, CP was common). He also tends to punish first, ask questions later. Eileen is not in the picture, she has either left or died, I'm not sure which yet.**

Tobias opened the door to his house and gently but firmly pushed Harry in. The little boy looked around _So this is Snape's house?_ He thought as he looked about the living room, it wasn't very large, a few bookshelves, a old black and white TV in the corner, a sofa and comfortable looking armchair and coffee table, there was a plank with hooks for coats on the wall by the door and a big front window and a fireplace on the wall across from the stairs. A doorway at the back of the room glimpsed the small kitchen, and stairs that went up to the bedrooms and bathroom. Harry involuntarily took a step back when he noticed the door to the cupboard under the stairs and shuddered slightly. Tobias noticed but didn't say anything as he lead Harry to the couch. Harry sat down while continuing to look around, still completely in shock as to everything that happened.

"Now then Harry, I'm Tobias Snape. Professor Dumbledore asked me to take you in, he said you needed a place to stay..."  
"I don't belong here." Harry interrupted, practically shouting. Tobias gave Harry a hard look, he didn't like being interrupted.

"Oh? And where should you be?" He crossed his arms and gave a cold look that made Professor Snape's look like a puppy's, however if Harry indeed had a home that was suitable he'd willingly take the boy there.

Harry opened his mouth but then closed it again, he couldn't think of saying the Dursleys. They'd never take him in, not that he'd want to go back there anyway. He looked down at his hands, "The Weasleys?" he asked hesitantly.

"Arthur and Molly?" Tobias asked and Harry nodded "We'll they're quite young, Arthur only has an entry level job at the ministry right now, and they have two young boys already, Molly's expecting a third later this summer, I'm sure she'd love to have you Harry, but they wouldn't be able to add an extra kid right now."

"The Potters?" Harry had to ask.

Tobias snorted, "They've done a fine job with their son, alright," in a tone that clearly meant the opposite "letting that boy bully others and not doing a damn thing about it. They're up there in years as well. And if Dumbledore wanted you with them he would have contacted them." Tobias said with a note of finality.

And that's when it hit Harry, all at once, Ron, his best friend, didn't even _exist_ yet. Nor Hermione, and Ginny, Neville, Luna. And Sirius… was still a teenager. His mom and dad, alive but didn't know who he was. Giant tears welled up and rolled down his face.

Tobias, never really one for any displays of emotion felt a little lost at what to do for the crying boy sitting on his couch, he knelt down in front of Harry he couldn't believe he was trying to comfort the child he must be growing soft he thought as he uncertainty pulled Harry into a hug.

Harry couldn't remember the last time he'd been hugged by anyone other than Molly Weasley, she had a motherly, nurturing sort of hug, or at least she did, he didn't know if she would here in 1976. Tobias had a strong, protective hug and Harry melted into it, sobbing hard as his world crashed down around him. Everyone he knew and loved was gone, or didn't know he was him. His friends weren't born yet, the adults in his life were teenagers, and the only person that knew who he really was, Albus Dumbledore, either couldn't or wouldn't send him back to his time, and with no explanation at all had sent him to Snape's father of all people. On top of all that, he was stuck having to relive a childhood again, because the first one hasn't been horrible enough. He heaved trying to get air as the panic and isolation engulfed him, but Tobias held him and rubbed his back gently until exhaustion over took him.

Tobias lay the boy down on the couch when his breathing evened out and small shuddering sobs only occasionally escaped. Harry's eyes closed and he was asleep almost instantly. Tobias looked over the boy one of his trainers had come untied, his jeans had some grass stains on them, and the blue and green striped shirt was a little rumpled from the days wear but in good shape. His mop of unruly dark brown hair looked like it had never seen a brush. The man took the blanket at the end of the couch and covered the small figure, he gently brushed the boys hair off his brow, his rough thumb traced over the odd lightning bolt scar on his forehead. Tobias knit his brow as he wondered where the child could have gotten it.

Harry woke up screaming, his dreams plagued with images of Sirius falling through the veil, Bellatrix Lestrange's cackling laugh, Voldemort, Professor Snape in their occlumency lessons, and the memories in the pensive.

"Harry!" a deep gruff voice was calling his name and slowly he opened his eyes and looked into the concerned black eyes of Tobias Snape.

Harry startled again, believing for a moment that they were Professor Snape's eyes, they were that similar, but then he remembered where he was and his breathing slowed and he calmed down a bit. The worry on Tobias's face lessened a bit, but didn't disappear entirely.

"You must be hungry, come to the kitchen, dinner is almost ready."

Harry sat up, rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and headed to the little kitchen in the back of the house. Aunt Petunia would have hated it, it was quite small, just the bare basics and a formica table set, that in his own time would have been considered retro, pushed off to the side. Harry sat down and Tobias set a glass of milk down for him and then served up bangers and mash with a side of canned carrots.

"I'm not much of a cook.." the man started to explain.

"It's ok, I like it."

Tobias raised his eyebrows in surprise. He was glad Harry, at least so far, didn't appear to be a fussy eater.

"Um, sir?" Harry cautiously asked "what do I call you?"

Tobias was half way to putting a fork full in his mouth when he stopped and put his hand down again and looked thoughtfully at Harry. "I suppose it would be premature to say you could call me 'dad'." At this Harry nodded in agreement "Although if you ever want to you may. And it's completely inappropriate to call me by my given name. Perhaps just stick with 'sir' for now until we find something else that works for us. Alright?" he could not believe he was asking the child if he was ok with this.

Harry who was relieved he wouldn't be forced to call the man 'father' or any of its derivatives, earnestly agreed that 'sir' would be just fine for now.

"Now then, since we didn't get a chance to talk earlier," Tobias gave Harry a hard look that made him blush slightly "The main rules in this house are that you are respectful and obedient. Do as you're told and don't give me cheek. You're to clean up after yourself and if I ask for you to do something you do it."

Harry bit his lip and whispered a nervous "Yes, sir."

"Now then, I have a son, Severus, he's 16. He's at Hogwarts right now, but will be back in a week when school ends. You can use his bed while he's not here, which is most of the time, but when he comes back you're to use the trundle bed beneath. Understood?"

Harry nodded, it seemed reasonable. "It would be unproductive to register you for school with only one week left, so you'll be on your own for the next week while I'm at work. I work at the plant down the lane. Don't go thinking you can watch the telly all day while I'm gone."

"No, sir." Harry agreed and Tobias gave a nod of approval.

"This neighborhood is called 'Spinners End' and you're free to roam about provided you do not cross the river on the east side or the railway tracks on the west. I also don't want you going past the factory to the north or past the primary school on the south side of town, understood?"

Harry nodded as his mouth was currently stuffed with mashed potatoes. "Good, be home by 6 for supper, bedtime is at 8, and we'll figure the rest out as we go. I don't want to put too much on you at once. I'll pull out some of Severus's old clothes for you, and since tomorrow is Saturday we'll make a stop at the store get you skivvies and socks and then grocers."

Harry blushed at the idea of getting underwear with Tobias, the Dursleys had at most tossed him a package every few years, but he nodded and finished as much of his dinner as he could.

"Sir, I can't finish, it's too much." he said, worried that he'd be in trouble. In his 16 year old body he could have eaten twice the amount, but back in his scrawny 7 year old self, it had been too much for him. Fortunately Tobias nodded "I suppose I'm more used to teenage portion sizes." he chuckled. After washing up the dishes Harry followed Tobias upstairs, he pulled a trunk out of the crawl space and pulled out a couple more jeans, t-shirts, jumpers, a coat, a pair of athletic shorts, and pajamas.

"There, looks like the basics are here except the personables, like I said, we'll get them tomorrow and a toothbrush I think too, yeah."

"Yes, please." said Harry as he realized ironically that he'd be wearing his potion master's old clothes and that said professors _father_ had just given him more decent clothing than his relatives ever had.

"Oh, almost forgot." Tobias pulled out plush bear and handed it to a shocked Harry. Harry was about to protest that he really didn't need it, after all he _was_ 15 on the inside at least, but when he looked at it and something made him not want to part with the little bear who's black eyes and tilt of its head looked sad and lonely. He felt the urge to give the bear a hug, then smiled at Tobias "Thanks." and Harry realized this was his first ever stuffed animal that was given to him. He'd pulled a couple out of the bin at the Dursleys, but if Aunt Petunia found it it had been taken away and he'd go without dinner that night.

Tobias nodded "Do you need help with your bath?"

"No, sir, I'll manage." said Harry. He hated the idea of heading to bed so early, but convincing Tobias Snape that he normally stayed up past 11 didn't seem like a winning argument. Tobias tucked Harry in. Harry didn't take long to drift to sleep, it had been a very weird day.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: to clear up any confusion. Tobias is muggle, but he doesn't hate magic. He knows Dumbledore well enough for Dumbledore to ask him to take over care of Harry. Obviously he knows about the Potters and Blacks because their children are his son's bullies. He's also aware of the Ministry of Magic and some of the more prominent wizarding families.**

Harry jogged to keep up with Tobias's long strides, the man held his hand tightly in his large strong hands, there was no way he could pull away from him if he tried.

"Keep up, Harry." he scolded and gave a little tug on Harry's arm.

"Your legs are longer!" Harry rasped out, he had almost fallen over when Tobias picked up his pace and for a terrifying moment wondered if the man would just drag him behind if that happened.

Tobias looked down to see Harry trying to keep up and slowed down enough for Harry to not quite trip over his feet. "Almost there." he said encouragingly and gestured towards the stairs to the overpass to the next platform. The pair began to climb. Tobias was anxious they had left a little later than he wanted to, Harry had somehow misplaced a shoe and it had taken all his restraint to not smack the boy for his carelessness. Eventually it was found behind the telly of all places, they had gotten into the wagon, only to find that the petrol was lower than he had thought and had to buy more, and once they were on the expressway managed to hit traffic as well. When they reached the train station Harry had begged to use the wash closet. They were quite late now for picking up Severus. As the pair reached the landing of the overpass they looked around for Severus.

The crowd cleared a moment later Tobias saw a scuffle at the far end of the platform. There was Severus, Tobias could see, right in the middle of it. He turned to Harry. "Stay right here. Don't move." he ordered and went down the stairs.

"You want the book back Snivellus?" James mocked as he held Severus's potions book out of reach. Severus lunged for it but James easily stepped away laughing and tossed the book to Remus.

"Over here, Snape." he called out. Severus, having no choice but to try to go after his book went after Remus who tossed it to Peter and then Sirius. In the past he'd tried ignoring them when they played keep away with his stuff hoping they'd get bored and leave it somewhere, but quickly learned that between the four Gryffindors they would completely destroy his belongings if given the chance.

"Just give it back."

"Say 'please'" Sirius mocked.

"Please."

Sirius pretended to think about the request for a moment, then chucked the book back to James laughing. He nudged Peter and motioned with his head towards Severus's trunk laying innocently by a bench. The boys grabbed the trunk and proceeded to open it dumping the contents on the platform, and promptly scattering it as far as they could while James and Remus had distracted Severus by tossing the book back and forth again.

As Tobias ran towards the boys, Harry followed behind watching the scene. He cocked his head to the side a little, and then realized he was watching James, his dad, and Remus, his former professor taunting Snape. He felt like he was punched in the gut watching is father treat anyone so horribly. Seeing it in the pensive had been awful, but this, this was a million times worse. Suddenly James stopped and looked over at Harry. Their eyes locked.

James wasn't sure why he had a weird feeling, he looked over to the far side of the platform and there stood a boy, no older than 7 or 8 watching him. He'd never seen the kid before and he didn't look like he was with anyone, but those green eyes staring back at him gave James a chill that ran all the way down his spine, as if he had accidentally walked through Nearly-Headless-Nick. The little boy on the platform just watched a slight frown on his face, but the eyes, they reminded James of someone, and they looked at him with such … disappointment that he felt he might be sick. Without taking his eyes of the boy he lowered the book in his hands and held it out to Severus to take.

"James?" Remus asked looking at him with an odd expression on his face. James looked over at his friend and back at the boy who had begun picking up some of Severus's stuff laying near him.

"Nothing, come on Remus, lets go." James said as he and his friend left the platform, James occasionally looking back at the small boy.

"Don't touch my stuff." Severus snapped at the boy holding his trousers and Charms book.

"I'm just trying to help." Harry said with a shaky voice.

"Well don't." the older boy replied as he yanked his things out of Harry's hands.

Tobias made his way over dragging the trunk and as many of his son's belongings he could find. "Are you alright, Sev?" he asked helping his son up and looking him over.

Severus nodded "Yeah, I'm ok, dad."

Tobias nodded and clasped him on the shoulder "Lets get your things then." He then noticed Harry standing awkwardly a few feet away. He grabbed the small boy's arm, pulled him closer, and landed a hard smack on his backside. Harry's eyes watered immediately and then he flushed. "I told you to stay on the overpass." He scolded while giving the boy a little shake. Harry felt like such a baby, a single smack like that wouldn't have made his eyes water a week ago when he was 15.

"I wanted to help" Harry argued.

"What if one of those boys decided to go after you? Eh, then what? They're all at least three times your size."

Harry wasn't sure what to say to that, Dudley's gang had always chased after him, they seldom caught him, but as Harry suddenly realized, he had been the same age as Dudley's friends at least. He had to keep reminding himself that, physically, he wasn't 15 anymore.

"'M sorry" he mumbled and wiped his now dripping nose on his sleeve.

Tobias put a strong hand on the back of his neck before turning back to Severus.

"Severus, I'd like you to meet Harry. Professor Dumbledore asked me to take him in."

Severus had watched the exchange with confusion and now to find out this little kid was living with them. He hated kids, he hated kids his own age, and little kids were disgusting, they had horrible hygiene, their noses were always running (this one being no exception he noted), or crying.

"Great." He muttered and walked off to grab the rest of his things.

And he STILL hates me. Thought Harry as he watched Severus stomp off, he had hoped a little that this time around maybe the two of them could at least not hate each other, but they didn't seem to be off to a very good start.

Tobias looked down at the younger boy and noticed the dejected look on his face and gave his shoulder a squeeze "Just give him a little time to adjust, he's probably a little embarrassed to meet you like this." He motioned with his hands to the few remaining belongings on the ground. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. I didn't really want him to see me get smacked first thing either" Harry pointed out and continued to pick up what he could find.

Severus watched the countryside out the window as they drove by, he was slumped down in the back seat with an annoyed look on his face. Harry was next to him, also looking out his window, swinging his little legs and whispering to himself "cow, sheep, flag pole, church, sheep, fence, sheep…."  
"Would you cease your irritating ramblings." the surly teen hissed at the small boy.

"Huh?" said Harry.

"You're naming everything you see."

"Oh, I didn't know." Harry felt his ears grow warm, what an annoying thing to do, and the worst part of it was, he didn't know why he was doing it, he probably would have snapped if a little kid next to him was doing something that exasperating.

It only took a minute before Harry was again verbally naming everything he saw as the wagon drove by.

Severus was about ready to pull his hair out, "Will. You. Stop." he said harshly.

"Wha.. oh, I was doing it again? Sorry." said Harry sheepishly.

Severus rolled his eyes, "Dad, where's he gonna sleep?"

"The trundle bed."

"In my room?" he asked incredulously.

"Of course, where else could I put him?"

Severus huffed, crossed his arms and flopped back and resumed perfecting his glare at the passing sheep.

Harry's little pink tongue peeked out from his lips as he focused on his drawing. He was sitting at the kitchen table with the tin of old crayons. His feet swung back and forth not quite long enough to touch the ground yet. He stopped and looked at the crayon drawing of him and Severus. A sort of peace offering he hoped. A part of him, the 15 year old part was wondering why on earth he was doing this, it was so stupid and most teens would think the little drawing pathetic. He thought it was pathetic. And then there was an other part of him that just could not resist the urge to create this little piece of art. Now for the final touch, Harry pulled out a green crayon Slytherin green he thought as he in a childish scrawl wrote "Harry and Sevus" He hated his handwriting. Not that it was really great before. Snape had always said it looked like chicken scratch and constantly had marked off points for it being illegible, but his 7 year old handwriting looked so childish he cringed, and as much as he knew that he had spelled 'Severus' wrong, he couldn't quite figure out how to spell it correctly either.

Hopping down from the chair he ran upstairs to find Severus and present him with his token of friendship. When he entered the room however he saw Severus standing there holding out his bear with an odd look on his face.

"Where did you get Winston?" Severus asked as he noticed Harry enter.

"You mean Max?" Harry asked "Your dad gave him to me." he reached for his stuffed bear but Severus held it away.

"It's Winston, and you can't have him, he's mine."

"No!" Harry dropped the picture he was holding and his eyes started to water. His 15 year old brain was telling him he was being a stupid little kid, of course it told him that two nights ago as well when Max had fallen behind the bed and couldn't be found, Harry had cried for two solid hours before Tobias pulled the bed away from the wall and found it. "GIVE 'EM BACK!" He yelled and grabbed for the bear. The two ended in a little bit of a wrestling match that couldn't have lasted longer than 2 minutes before Tobias had stormed in and pulled the boys a part.

"It's MY bear dad!" Severus argued, crossing his arms and glaring at Harry.

"That bear has been in the storage bin for 6 years now."

"I didn't know that!"

"You could have asked, if it meant that much to you I would have gotten it out for you. Do you actually care about the bear or do you just not want Harry to have it?" Tobias asked knowingly.

Severus scowled at his father's insightfulness "Fine, he can have it."

Harry took Max-Winston from Severus "I'll take good care of him, I promise." he said solemnly and then ran off with the bear to color.

Tobias scooped down and picked up the paper laying on the floor, he turned it over to look at the crayon drawing.

"He's trying to get along with you, Sev." he said and handed his son the picture Harry had drawn.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Wow! Thank you all for the follows and favorites. I also really love reviews.**

Severus sat at the kitchen table with his Defense Against the Dark Arts text open as he flipped through it. He was getting frustrated with this assignment, it was supposed to be a comprehensive review and Severus was finding that he didn't remember nearly as much as he thought he had.

"What are you doing?" asked Harry, who had looked up from his coloring to watch Severus.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts." muttered Severus.

"D-A-D-A" said Harry, then he giggled "or you could call it 'Dada'. That's funny."

"Hilarious." Severus answered dryly. "Don't you have something else you could do?'

"Not really, I'm 7." Harry shrugged and went back to drawing something that looked remarkably like a golden snitch.

Severus glanced up at the clock and gasped, he was almost late for work. "I've gotta go! Dad will be home in a bit, so just … behave." he said warningly. Harry rolled his eyes, he knew how menacing Severus would be as an adult, but his teenage self just didn't have the same effect. Shoving the paper into the book, slamming it shut, and pushing it off to the side, Severus then grabbed his apron uniform and headed out the door and down the block at a jog.

/

"You're late, boy" Mr. Jenkins grumbled as Severus ran into the grocers where he stocked shelves in the summer.

"Sorry." Severus muttered as he slipped the apron on and looked to Mr. Jenkins for his task that day.

"Aisle 6 needs a clean up, and the new shipment of cans are in the back room, they'll need to be priced."

"Yes'r." Severus answered and went to find the mop.

"Come on Tuney, you know this color would look great on you."

Severus froze… Lily, he had just finished with the mess and headed to put the mop away, he saw Lily and her sister Petunia two aisles over looking at nail polish, he paused and looked at his former best friend, debating if he should say something. It only took a moment for Lily to see him, she narrowed her eyes at him, put the merchandise back on the shelf, and told Petunia she was leaving. Confused Petunia scowled but put back what was in her hand and followed her younger sister out of the store.

Severus sighed sadly and continued with his next task.

/

Curiosity got the better of Harry, as it usually does, and he pulled out the paper Severus had been working on, reading over the questions and answers that had been written down. Harry was more than a little surprised at the inconsistencies in the work, some questions were well thought out and answered well, others seemed to be little more than guesses, and still the rest were correct but so much information was left out. Shaking his head a little he grabbed a red crayon (lacking a red pen) and began marking up the homework, crossing out bits that were incorrect, mentioning pages to reference for more information, and comments to expand on certain topics. He was very careful to write neatly, or as neatly as one can when one is 7 years old and using old crayons. When he was done he placed it back in the book and put it back where Severus had left it. Satisfied that with the additional corrections his "brother" would get a much better mark. He smiled to himself, what would Ron and Hermione say if they knew he was correcting Snape's homework!

/

Severus was ready to go home, he had stocked the shelves with the new cans, only to watch in horror as the top shelf gave way taking the entire section down with it. Mr. Jenkins had scolded him in front of everyone in the store, as if he had done something to make the shelves collapse, and told him he couldn't leave until it was redone if he wanted to keep his job. After fixing the shelves and restocking, leaving the top shelf clear, it was an hour after his shift was supposed to over.

Of course it would start to rain as he trudged slowly through the narrow streets to Spinner End.

Tobias and Harry both looked up when he came in. Tobias was in his chair watching the nightly news while Harry was laying on the floor in front of the telly having some sort of epic battle with two army men, a small toy car missing a wheel, and …

"Is that an old tin of shoe polish?" he asked the boy.

"Yeah." Harry answered and went back to his game, complete with sound effects.

Tobias looked at his son sympathetically, he'd had enough bad days at work to know exactly how he felt. "Dinner is on the stove."

Severus nodded and headed up for a hot shower before going into the kitchen to warm up his dinner on the stove. While he waited he pulled out his DADA work. He took one look at it and saw red, literally, red crayon scribbled over every sheet. Random numbers in the margins, whole paragraphs blocked out and colored in.

"You little brat, I'm gonna kill you." Severus screamed as he entered the sitting room. Harry scrambled to his feet and backed away from the irate boy.

"Severus?" Tobias's voice caused his son to stop his advance.

Severus held up his homework, "He ruined it! He scribbled all over my homework in crayon, I have to redo it all now."

"I was trying to help." squeaked out Harry, this is not how he had imagined Severus reacting, "You had some stuff wrong."

"My homework isn't for you to play school!"

"I wasn't playing school, your answers were wrong!" cried Harry, now starting to panic as he noticed the dark look on Tobias's face.

Tobias stood up, he believe Harry was probably trying to help, but he couldn't allow the child to ruin Severus work like this "Upstairs, Harry."

Harry shook his head trying not to cry, "Just let me explain." He begged but that wasn't going to go over well with Tobias at all, he scooped up the boy under the arms and started towards the stairs. Harry had a feeling that this was going to go horribly wrong, "No! Sev, look at page three hundred and ninety four!" He yelled out as he squirmed and kicked to no avail.

Severus watched his father carry a squirming, kicking, crying Harry upstairs and shook his head feeling slightly mollified. He smirked when he heard the bedroom door close followed shortly by the sounds of his father's hand on flesh and the resulting cries. He grabbed his dinner and sat down at the coffee table in the sitting room to start rewriting his homework. He frowned at the first chunk of red, crossed out the way his professors marked up his work, and next to it, as neatly as crayon could get were the numbers "394". Severus furrowed his brow at it, hadn't Harry said something about page 394? He opened his book to the page and found a section on werewolves that he didn't remember covering, he skimmed the page realizing that it answered the question set on the assignment.

He looked at the next question about extremely dangerous beasts, in the margin Harry had written "basilisk" and "acromantula". Further down the page was information about dementors, cornish pixies, grindylow, spells, jinxes, and blocking. He noticed numbers in the margins and turned to each of those pages only to find it correlated perfectly with the topic in the question. Severus felt sick, he could no longer hear the telling sounds that his father's hand was still having a discussion with Harry's backside. Sure enough Tobias came down the stairs in a somber mood a moment later.

"Dad?"

"Mhm?"

"Is Harry alright?"

"He'll live. Are you alright?" the man looked at his son who suddenly looked pale and guilty.

"I think Harry was trying to help. He wrote down references in the margins, and they're all the correct pages for the topic." Severus handed his father the book and the paper. The man studied it with growing confusion and a bit of worry on his face.

"How can a 7 year old find this information?"

Severus just shook his head.

/

"Harry?" Severus peeked in the room he and Harry shared some time later. The little boy was laying on his side on the bed facing the wall.

"Go 'way."

"Are you ok?"

"I said go away."

Severus was unphased and sat down on Harry's bed. "You were right about the answers, I looked them up."

Harry rolled over to face Severus, wincing as he did so. His face was blotchy from crying and his eyes red and swollen. Severus continued "How did you know that stuff?"

Harry shrugged. "Dunno"

"Yes, you do. No one could have done that on accident."

Harry remained silent, he wasn't sure how to answer. The truth was absurd, that he was 15 stuck in a 7 year old body, from 1996. They'd put him in the Lockhart ward at St. Mungos. Well now that he thought of it, it was probably called something else right now. And on top of that could manage 5th year work in DADA but struggled to read aloud from one of children's books he'd found in the bookshelf or tie his shoes.

"I won't mark up your work again." Harry said finally, Tobias had made it quite clear, that however good his intentions were, going ahead and helping with homework without asking and getting permission wasn't acceptable.  
"How about if I let you read my drafts, if you want to. You can mark those up all you want."

Harry nodded and took a shuddering breath and closed his eyes, the older boy pulled up the blanket and tucked the small boy in. Severus watched Harry sleep for a few minutes, something was weird about this kid.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Enjoy and remember: I really like reviews!**

Severus woke up to the high pitch screams of Harry in the midst of a nightmare. He quickly got up to try to wake up the young boy but didn't have much luck. The scream sent a chill down his spine, it was that painful wail of someone that had experienced a great loss. No child should make that sound. Tobias was in the room a moment later.

"Sirius, you can't leave me." Harry sobbed in his sleep. "Sirius!"

Severus sat on his bed and watched as his father tried to wake Harry, but why the boy was crying for Sirius? Surely not Sirius Black, one half of the biggest troublemaking-bullying duo in school.

Finally after some cuddles from Tobias Harry settled down and slept peacefully on.

"Dad, how would he know who Sirius is?"

Tobias looked down at the sleeping form of the young child, "I think there is a lot about Harry that we don't know."

/

"Severus!"

"Yes, sir?"

"Here take this and go down the fish shop get some fish and chips." Tobias handed the teen some coins.

Severus started to head out the door "And take Harry with you."

Severus bit back a groan. He waited impatiently as Harry pulled on his trainers, then Severus tied them for him.

The line at the fish shop was long, Harry fidgeted and squirmed. "This is boring." He whined to Severus. Severus just rolled his eyes and moved up a spot. And then Harry saw her, hair was fiery red, and she smiled like an angel, Harry couldn't keep himself from walking over to the girl sitting at a high top table with a couple friends. He could have watched her forever. She was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. She noticed him standing nearby and gave him a funny odd sort of look. Then she smiled at Harry.

"Hi there." She spoke and her voice was the sweetest sound Harry could remember hearing

He waved at her shyly.

"Where are your parents?"

"Around here somewhere" Harry said with a mischievous smirk.

"Won't they be looking for you?"

"I don't think so. What's your name?"

"Lily"

Harry smiled "That's pretty. I'm…"

"Harry!" Severus's voice boomed through "I've been looking for you. You don't wander off!" he scolded and Harry had the sense to at least look guilty, although he didn't feel it at all, after all he got to meet his mother! Alive and talked to her, he was on cloud 9 at the moment.

"Maybe you should keep a closer eye on him then, Severus." Lily snapped.

"Lily…" Severus had been so worried about finding Harry he hadn't even noticed Lily sitting there.

The girl gave a humf and left the shop.

The older boy grabbed the younger roughly by the upper arm and marched him out the door.

"Lemme go. Sev, you're hurting me." cried Harry as he struggled against the strong grip. He was sure to have a bruise later

"I don't care," Severus hissed "I have enough issues with Lily as it is, I don't need you making it worse."

"I didn't do nuthin'"

"You did plenty. In." Sev ordered as Harry realized they had arrived at home .

Harry went right to the kitchen table and sat sullenly at his place while Severus and Tobias plated up the fish and chips. Harry picked at his chips with his right hand but kept his left still. Tobias didn't notice how much Harry was favoring his arm, the factory had rumors going around about a potential layoff and he had his own adult worries to consider that he didn't even notice how quiet Harry was or Severus's foul mood.

"Sev, do you know that girl?"

"Lily?... yeah"

"She's really pretty isn't she?"

Severus looked over his book at Harry who was laying on his bed with a few cars bravely forging the mountainous pillows. He narrowed his eyes at the younger boy, "Don't you think she's a bit old for you?"

Harry made a face of disgust "Ew. I just think she's pretty that's all." Harry cautiously moved the little car he was playing with "Are you friends with her?"

"No."

"Why not? She seems nice. You should try to talk to her."

Severus scowled and went back to reading his book without answering. Harry undeterred continued on "Do you know her from Hogwarts?"

If looks could kill Harry would be dead. "I guess you probably do since you're really not home very much. Are you in the same house? You're in Slytherin, right? I wonder what house Lily is in.." Harry of course knew the answer to this last question but figured he should just keep going until Severus answered something or killed him

"Gryffindor" Severus ground out through clenched teeth.

"Oh, so you probably don't get to see her a lot. Gryffindor sounds like a really fun house, don't you think so?" Harry prattled on for several more minutes before giving up at Severus lack of more details, Harry had hoped the teen would tell him, inadvertently, about his mother, but Severus was especially tight lipped about her. He rubbed his left arm, it still hurt a lot from where Severus had grabbed him earlier that day.

Harry quickly scrambled under the covers and pretended to sleep when he heard the sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs. A moment later Tobias opened the door and came in.

"Sev, I have to go to the plant, some kind of emergency, I should be back by breakfast. Lights out in 10." Tobias said looking at the small reading lamp.

"Yes, sir." Severus agreed before looking at his book.

Tobias looked over to Harry's bed "And you, go to sleep, your not fooling anyone." he reached over and poked the side of the lump on the bed, Harry giggled and yawned while Tobias tucked him in.

Severus lay awake in the dark waiting for his father to leave. When he heard the sounds of the wagon outside drive off he quickly got out of bed and slipped out the window easily landing on the stone wall of their back garden. He hated to admit that Harry was right, he should try and talk to Lily, he hopped off the wall into the little ally separating his building from the next and ran down the street towards Lily's house.

Harry, who hadn't been asleep at all, sat up when Severus climbed out the window, he watched as the older boy had made his escape and tried to follow, but his arm was still sore, and he was a lot shorter and couldn't reach the store wall, he ended up tumbling down into the garden and landed in the dirt. Harry quickly brushed it off and went out the garden door following Severus at a safe distance to not be noticed.

"Lily, please, talk to me." Severus begged. He had finally gotten the redhead to open up her window after tossing pebbles at it for 20 minutes.

"I have nothing to say to you and there's nothing you can say to change that, Severus." Lily hissed at him before turning away and leaving to some other part of the house. Harry, hiding around the corner of the house, frowned, she could at least let Sev apologize. He always thought his mother would have been a forgiving person not someone to hold on to grudges as firmly as Professor Snape had.

"Lily!" Severus called again.

Petunia stuck her horsey face out the window now, "You horrible boy, if you don't leave now I'm going to wake Daddy."

Severus knew when it was a lost cause and turned to go home, Harry followed at a distance.

Harry waited while Severus headed to the back of the house before using the spare key to go in the front door (there was no way he could climb in the window from the garden wall). He quickly ran up the stairs, pulled off his dirty Pjs and put on clean ones before hopping into his bed, Severus pulled himself into the room a moment later. He pulled off his shoes and climbed into bed. Harry didn't know if he should say something, but when he heard Severus start to cry he decided not to.

Tobias Snape wasn't a fool. True, he hadn't completed his secondary education, but that wasn't due to a lack of intelligence. It wasn't often that someone could pull one over on him, so when he had gotten home from working the overnight shift and went out to the back garden to water his plants only to find them completely trampled he knew something had happened last night that shouldn't have.

Harry and Severus came crashing down the stairs racing to get to the kitchen first, Severus being taller got there first almost crashing into Tobias with his coffee.

"You're home already?" He asked surprised.

"I am." came the cold reply, Severus knew right away something was the matter. Harry was oblivious to the signs and bounded in brightly.

"Morning!" he said as he pulled out a bowl, cereal, and milk.

"Would either of you two like to fill me in on what exactly happened last night while I was out?" Tobias noticed both boys tense slightly but neither responded.

"Sit." he ordered. The boys quickly took their seats, neither making eye contact. Severus's face held a neutral expression, Harry's decidedly guilty.

"Now then, last night I went out back and watered my thriving plants. I said goodnight to you both and left for work assuming that you would both be asleep while I was gone. Then this morning when I went to take the rubbish out I happened across my garden. And the plants were completely trampled. Would either of you care to explain how this happened?" Tobias looked at the boys carefully, Severus's face flashed confusion at the mention of the garden, before returning to his standard neutral expression. _Guilty of something, but not this_ he thought. Harry was a terribl _e_ liar and his face had guilt written all over it, but the boy refused to say anything. Earlier that morning Tobias had grabbed the hamper to do a load of washing and found Harry's pajamas laying on top, covered in dirt. Tobias grabbed the clothes from where he had stored them and slammed them down on the table, both boys jumped in their seats. Severus looked confused, and then as if something occurred to him looked questioningly at Harry. Harry kept his eyes firmly on the pajamas in front of him, the incriminating evidence of his late night excursion right in front of him, he felt like he might be sick. Tobias was going to kill him, it would be a slow, torturous death, of that he was certain.

"Well, Harry? Something you'd like to tell me about."

"No, sir." Harry whispered.

Tobias slammed his hands down on the table and looked the little boy in the eye, "No, sir? NO SIR? The only thing stopping me from thrashing you right now is because I don't think I could stop once I started,"

Harry swallowed hard, this was the first time Tobias had been this upset with him and he was terrified. The man turned to Severus "Did you have anything to do with this?"

"No, sir." Severus responded quickly. Tobias looked at the teen for a moment and nodded, he believed him and Severus felt relieved when he realized he wasn't in trouble, his father had no idea of his own nighttime adventures. Tobias wasn't convinced that Severus was completely innocent, but at least his son didn't seem to know anything about the garden mishap.

Tobias turned back to the small boy in front of him "You will replant my garden," Harry whispered a quiet "Yes,sir."

".. and you will complete any other chores I give you for the next week. You will not leave the house or yard without me, that means no play park and no library."

"I have a book due."

"Severus can return it. And no telly for the next two weekends."

At that Harry looked devastated "but the only kids shows are on weekends!" he cried out and then seeing Tobias's murderous expression quickly added "That's fair."

Tobias couldn't believe the boys gall.

"Right, since its too early to head to the pub for a pint, I'm taking a nap. The garden should take you at least till lunch."

With that the man trudged upstairs for a nap hoping he would wake up in a better mood than he currently was in.

Severus looked at Harry, "You followed me last night, didn't you?" he hissed. Harry looked up, but didn't answer. "How much did you hear?"

"Of what?" Harry tried to ask innocently but with that answer Severus knew that Harry had not only heard his conversation with Lily but also his melt down after.

"You're lucky dad is upstairs." Severus ground out before heading outside, he needed to get out of the house.

Harry put his unused bowl back, he didn't feel very hungry anymore.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for the reviews!**  
 **To answer a few questions: Severus is not yet involved with the Death Eaters. Harry and Severus are basically "latchkey kids" because Tobias is a single working father, they both have keys/access to the spare key, so that is how Harry was able to get back in. Why they didn't just use the front door to leave, lets just leave it as kids can be kind of stupid sometimes.**  
 **Tobias definitely knows something is up with Sev, but doesn't have enough evidence yet to do anything about it.**  
 **Harry's original wand is with Olivander still since in this time line it has not yet been purchased.**

 **Please enjoy the next chapter!**

In his other life, Harry had been very good at gardening. Aunt Petunia had made Harry take care of the yard as a regular chore since he was about 8, by the time he was 15 he had perfected the task and could have run his own landscaping company if he had wanted to. But in this life, Harry found that gardening, along with many other things he could do before, was a talent he hadn't acquired yet. The boy sat back on the pathetic lawn and looked at the mess he had made of the garden. It looked worse now than it had before he had started to "fix" it. He'd been outside for several hours now, and his skipping breakfast had started to affect him after the first hour. He didn't dare go inside to eat, Uncle Vernon would have beat him soundly and tossed him in his cupboard for daring to come back in before the job was done. A few times he had gotten distracted by the dirt and mud and ended up making mud pies, mountains and rivers within the garden bed. Harry just looked at the mess he had created, he was never going to finish, giant hot tears fell out of his eyes as he let out a sob.

"Harry, time to come in for lunch." Tobias called from the kitchen. Harry ignored the call and scooted up next to the house so he wouldn't be seen from the window.

Tobias set lunch down on the table and poured milk for Harry, he frowned that the child hadn't come in yet. "Harry?" he called again. No answer. Tobias went out the back door and looked at the garden, or what was once his garden, and sighed. It had been a mistake to task the boy with fixing it on his own. "Harry!" he called again, he listened carefully and heard the tell tell signs of a young child, looking around he found the boy had hidden himself between the house and the wood pile, clearly distraught.

"Harry, please come out." He said gently.

Harry shook his head, he'd fallen for that once before with Uncle Vernon. Tobias sighed, "You must be hungry, come inside for some lunch, you'll feel much better after you've eaten."

"Can't. I didn't finish." the child sobbed.

Tobias nodded, "Yes, I suppose that was a big job for a little boy. How about if we work on it together after lunch?"

"You're not mad?"

"I'm not mad."

Harry reluctantly crawled out of his hiding spot and followed Tobias inside for his lunch. Tobias wiped some of the dirt off his face and hands but since they were going right back out, didn't worry too much about the rest. Harry did feel much better after he ate. With Tobias's help, Harry managed to get the garden back in order in a few short hours.

Tobias was surprised that Harry hadn't complained at all while they worked. It had been difficult and certainly more labor intensive than a 7 year old would normally do, but Harry didn't complain once.

"Go take a bath, make sure to wash your hair, and call if you need help." the man instructed when the two finally finished the garden. Harry ran upstairs to the bathroom and Tobias washed up quickly at the kitchen sink before pulling out things for dinner.

/

Severus had wandered lazily around the town most of the morning, he had debated trying to talk to Lily again, but when he got to her house it was clear she wasn't home and didn't want to risk dealing with Petunia again. Or Mr. Evans. Mr. Evans was a really nice guy, most of the time, but he was fiercely protective of his daughters and if he suspected Severus was the cause for Lily to be even slightly upset he would not be someone Severus wanted to confront.

He found himself on the edge of the play park he and Lily had shared so many days, he had shoved his hands deep into his pockets as he puttered around. He missed his friend so much, she had been the only thing that had brought him some happiness for a very long time. His dad had certainly gotten better over the last few years but for a long time life in that house had been anything but happy. Harry seemed to be changing that as well, he still wouldn't say he LIKED the boy, but the child had a sort of natural joy that made others slightly less miserable.

Severus closed his eyes and clenched his teeth together, the little brat had probably tattled on him by now for leaving last night. His father hadn't questioned him too much this morning, but that didn't mean the issue was closed yet. Tobias never let anything go, once Severus thought he managed to get away with not giving him a note a teacher sent home, he went a whole week without either of them bringing it up, and just when Severus had completely forgotten about it Tobias brought up the topic. Turned out he'd known all along. It had not been a good day in the Snape household for Severus. Still, maybe Harry hadn't said anything.

At long last Severus headed back home for dinner.

"Where have you been?" Tobias asked his son when Severus finally returned home just as he and Harry were setting the table for dinner.

"Just out."

Tobias raised an eyebrow but didn't comment further.

"Severus," Harry said, between bites of his pasta, "how do you send a letter?"

Severus gave Harry a questioning look "You put it in the post box, with a stamp. You know that." Harry was sure he heard Severus mutter "dunderhead" to himself.

"No, I know that. I mean to someone in the magic world."

"You send them an owl, of course."

"Do you have an owl?"  
"Does it look like I've got one? Have you seen one flying around the house dropping pellets and feathers everywhere?" Severus snapped back at the boy.

Tobias growled "Sev." warningly

The teen rolled his eyes, "No, I don't have one."

Harry was completely unphased by the snippy attitude "Well if you wanted to send a letter, and you haven't got an owl, how do you do it?"

Severus put his fork down and looked at Harry, "And who are you planning to write to? Professor Dumbledore?" he hadn't quite perfected his condescending tone of his adulthood yet, but he wasn't too far off.  
"That's enough, Severus!" Tobias snapped at him.

Harry just stared down at his pasta, he would like very much to write to Dumbledore, to ask him why he was stuck in 1976, and if he'd ever get back to 1996, and what would happen with Voldemort, and about a hundred other questions that no one but Dumbledore could even understand. In short, Harry simply wanted someone that understood his unusual situation.

"Who's Sirius?" Severus asked Harry. The little boy snapped his head up.

"Huh?"

"Sirius. You talk in your sleep and that name comes up a lot."

Harry licked his lips and took a gulp of milk "Um, he was my godfather."

Tobias gave Severus a hard cold look for bring up this topic so tactlessly. "Was?" Tobias asked gently.

Harry just stared at his pasta and nodded, "He died." Harry sniffed as his nose began to threaten to run. He couldn't let Severus see him crying over his plate of spaghetti so he did the next logical thing and ran from the table to the stairs and to his bed and held Max tightly as he cried again that day.

Tobias clouted Severus on the head "You couldn't possibly have handled that with less sensitivity. What. Is. Wrong with you?" he hissed out before standing to go take care of Harry.

Severus rubbed his head. Well it can't be Sirius Black then; he, unfortunately, is still very much alive. Severus thought.

/

Tobias entered the boys bedroom and sat down on the edge of Harry's bed. He rubbed the boys back while he cried, eventually Harry turned around and sat up and Tobias pulled the child onto his lap. "they're…. All… gone." Harry choked out.

"Who is?"

"everyone."

Tobias didn't know how to respond to that so he continued to hold the child tightly.

"I miss them." Tobias thought Harry was talking about his parents, so he was surprised when the child added "my friends" to his statement.

"What happened to your parents?"

Harry had been told by Aunt Petunia for so many years that they had died in a car crash it wasn't difficult for him to use that explanation. Harry fell asleep in Tobias's arms soon after. The man was glad Harry had put on pajamas after his bath so he tucked the small boy into bed.

/

Severus was still at the table when Tobias came back down. He sat down and gave his son a long hard look. "Well I hope your happy, he cried himself to sleep." Severus continued to push his spaghetti around his plate, "that child has lost everyone in his life. WE, you and I, are literally all he has." Severus looked up briefly before lowering his eyes again. "Do you mind telling me what is going on with you? You've been back for a week now and all you've done is mope and act like the world has come to an end."

"It has." Severus whispered.

"What happened?"

"Lily."

"The Evans girl?"

Severus nodded, he was sure his throat was closing on him "She hates me. Something happened... at school, I said something horrible and now she hates me, and won't talk to me."

Tobias pulled his oldest boy into his chest as Severus cried. Tobias knew how much a broken heart hurt, even if Severus and Lily had never been a couple, they had had something special and everyone that knew the pair could see that. He sighed quietly to himself, dealing with two distraught boys was not how he envisioned spending his Saturday night.

/

Harry hurriedly tried to get the last side of the shed painted, he'd spent far too long mulching the front garden and then mowing the lawn. His stomach gave a loud grumble as he lifted a shaky arm to roll paint on an upper section of the shed. He was on the top step of the step ladder and he could barely reach, he carefully lifted himself up on tiptoes to reach but this action caused the stepladder to wobble, Harry tried to regain his balance but it was too late, the ladder tipped and Harry came crashing down, the can of paint barely missing him but spilling across the lawn and walk to the shed. Harry groaned and carefully sat up, his ankle was definitely sprained.

"Boy!" Uncle Vernon roared from the back door "You'd best be done with that shed." he threatened as he advanced on his nephew. The angry walrus took one look at the shed and Harry before turning a violent shade of purple. Grabbing Harry by the arm he pulled the boy up and pulled the boy to the house, Harry stumbled along, unable to fall over because his uncle had a firm grip on his arm which kept him from going horizontal on this bad ankle.

"I'm sorry Uncle! I fell." He tried to explain but Vernon didn't care for excuses.

"Take that filthy shirt off and the jeans too they're covered in paint." He ordered as they entered the kitchen. Harry quickly stripped down to his shorts, Aunt Petunia took the offending clothing with two fingers and kept them at arms length as she brought them to the laundry room.

"Now then time for you to get it though that thick head of yours that when we tell you do do something, you do it!" Uncle Vernon thew Harry into the cupboard and slammed the door shut.

"NO! Uncle Vernon please don't I"m sorry!... I"m sorry…. Please…."

"HARRY!"

"No! I'm sorry."

"HARRY! WAKE UP!"

Harry let out a gasp as he suddenly awoke from his nightmare. Tobias was sitting on the edge of his bed looking very worried. Harry sat up and looked around confused, he saw Snape (er, Severus) sitting on the bed across from him looking scared and worried.

"Harry, you're safe now." Tobias reassured the boy. It took Harry a moment to fully realize where he was and lay back down settling into the pillow.

The boy fell asleep almost immediately.

Tobias and Severus exchanged worried looks. "Sev, how do I contact Dumbledore?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you all for the reviews and continuing to read. It really has been such an encouragement for me to continue! And a little pressure to not disappoint. :-)**

The wonderful thing about being a child is that you can sleep fairly soundly most of the time, so when Harry woke up the next morning he was his usual bright eyed, bushy tailed self.  
"Wake up, Sev, smells like french toast!" he shouted and ran out the door, down the stairs, and to the kitchen.

Severus groaned, cast a hateful look at the little brat, and trudged along after him. Tobias looked at the two boys who at that moment couldn't be further apart in appearance and attitudes. Severus sleepily sat down at his spot and rested his head on his arm. Harry jabbered away about something very important to little boys, but he was talking so fast Tobias couldn't really understand him.

"Yum! French Toast!' cried Harry as Tobias set the plate down and Harry eagerly served himself up a slice, Severus followed suit at a much slower pace. It didn't take long for Harry to finish and bring his plate to the sink. Just before he was able to leave the kitchen Tobias stopped him,

"Not so fast, Harry. We've got church this morning."

Severus groaned, "Can't we just skip it?"

Tobias looked at his son who quickly found his breakfast fascinating. "We're going."

Severus pouted and picked at his toast, Harry just looked confused, the Dursleys only ever went to church on Easter and Christmas and had always made him sit out in the car while they went in. "Mrs. Finnigan from next door sent this over, said it would probably fit you. Her son, Danny, outgrew it and it's in good shape still." Tobias pulled out a suit, but not just any suit, this was by far the ugliest suit Harry had ever seen. Not even Ron's dress robes fourth year were this bad. The plaid bell bottom slacks and jacket were paired with a disgusting shade of mustard yellow shirt with a large collar. It was very in for 1976. However Harry, with his 90s fashion sensibilities took one look at the horrible reminder that he was in a different time...

"I'm not wearing that!"

Severus almost choked on his breakfast.

Tobias face fell for a moment, he'd been very proud to be able to give Harry a barely worn suit. The child had been surprisingly grateful for the other clothes, even if they were castoffs, he'd never once complained about not having the toys the telly had commercials for, so he was taken aback by Harry's refusal to wear the suit. That moment passed quickly, however, because Tobias was not someone you said no to, especially not one of his kids. He thought it best to give the boy a second chance, his brain must not be quite turned on this morning after all.

"What did you say?" there was a clear warning in his tone. Harry, of course, completely missed this, "Can't I just wear jeans? Thats so… ugly."

Severus just sat at the table his fork hovering halfway to his mouth and his eyes wide.

/

Thirty minutes later the three residence of Spinner's End were in the wagon driving to church. Tobias in a tweed suit he'd had for at least 20 years, Severus had on his school uniform slacks and a button down shirt with a non slytherin tie, and Harry was in the horrible suit and wearing a pout on his face as he watched the town go by out the window. Tobias had only smacked him twice before he hastily agreed to wear the awful thing but he could still feel the slight sting.

"At least you get to go to sunday school." Severus tried to explain, but this did not have the desired effect on Harry who had nothing to compare it to and only heard the word "school".

"I thought wizards were ag-ag-aghostic." Harry whispered, struggling with the word.

"Most are, unless you end up being raised by a muggle." Severus said a bit bitterly with a glance at the front seat.

"I heard that!"

Severus rolled his eyes but said nothing.

When they arrived at the church, Severus was tasked with showing Harry his sunday school room, the teen opened the door and shoved Harry in then left leaving a bewildered Harry standing in a room full of strange kids and one grumpy looking sunday school teacher. He gave a sheepish grin as he stood awkwardly by the door. He would have very much liked to run out and find Severus. Harry was relieved however to notice that the other boys were dressed in similarly awful outfits, some even worse than his, and felt considerably better.

Awkwardly Harry found an empty seat and waited for something to happen. A couple more children strolled in, gave Harry a cursory glance before sitting with a friend. Just as the teacher was about to begin a older teen girl walked in.

"Sorry I'm late, Ms Durham." she said.

"No worries, Tuney, dear, we were just getting started."

Harry could not stop staring, Aunt Petunia was the class helper! Petunia couldn't help but notice the new boy sitting quietly alone. He wouldn't stop staring at her and it was giving her an unnerving feeling, the boys green eyes were very similar to Lily's, she noticed.

"It looks like we have someone new today, do you mind introducing yourself, young man." the elderly teacher croaked out.

Harry snapped back to reality, "Er, yeah, sorry. I'm Harry."

"What's your last name, Harry?"

Harry sat there for a moment, what WAS his last name now? Was he officially adopted? Would he keep his name? Surely that would raise questions. He heard a kid not far from his snort and snicker out "Doesn't even know his last name, what a doofus."

"Snape. Harry Snape."

This apparently was no better than not having a last name at all because the old womans sour expression became even more foul and Petunia glared at him. Harry just looked at everyone confused.

"Are you related to Severus?" Petunia asked warily.

Harry nodded, not liking where this was going at all. Ms. Durham grumbled something about needing to retire and didn't need to deal with an other Snape. Harry slumped back in his chair.

The next hour past painfully slow for both the boys. Severus spent most of the service trying to discreetly get Lily's attention, earning himself many elbows to the ribs from Tobias. Harry did not fare much better down in the basement classroom, he was so confused by this lesson Ms. Durham was telling, none of it made sense, and when he asked a question she gave him such a withering glare that he mumbled "nevermind" and was determined to keep quiet.

/

As soon as Tobias unlocked the front door Harry ran in, pounded up the stairs and changed before Tobias even had his jacket off. Harry ran down the stairs planning on going out in the back garden to play.

"Not so fast, Harry." Tobias stopped the boy, whose shoulders slumped at being stopped, "What did you think of church?"

Harry scowled, "Do you want the truth or do you want me to say what you want to hear?" Harry had had a crap day so far, the only highlight was breakfast, and he was in no mood to appease Tobias.

The man was not amused by the response and crossed his arms waiting for an answer to his question.

"It was… fine." Harry finally answered, but it was clear that he hadn't cared for it. "Can I go now?"

Tobias frowned but nodded and Harry was out the back door before the man could say anything further.

There wasn't much to do in the back garden, each home in the area was a townhouse style and the back gardens were separated by tall stone walls with a back door leading to the back alley way where the rubbish was kept, but it was outside and not in the stuffy house so Harry was happy to be out there with Severus's old football that hadn't been used in years. Harry had never had a chance to play football before, the Dursleys had never let him play with anything if it could be helped. He tried juggling the ball the way he saw footballers on the telly do it, and quickly realized he was rubbish at it.

Harry kneed the ball badly and it flew into the neighboring garden. Harry stood there for a moment debating if he should climb over the wall or try the back alley or just go knock on the door when the ball came cruising back into his yard. A moment later a little head popped up on the other side of the wall.

"You're the new kid at sunday school." It wasn't a question.

Harry nodded.

"You're dreadful with that football." the boy criticized.

Harry shrugged, "It's the first time I ever tried."

"Really? Where'd you live before, the moon?"

"Surrey"

"They got football's in Surrey."

"Well I didn't." said Harry feeling defensive.

"I'm Danny by the way. Want to come over?"

"Can't, grounded." Harry explained but climbed up to sit on the top of the wall while Danny did the same.

Danny reminded Harry a lot of Ron and they were both happy to have a boy the same age next door. Danny confirmed that Petunia was sour to almost everyone and no one quite knew why she bothered to help with the children's classes since she so clearly hated kids. He also had an older brother that was a couple years older than Severus.

"Harry! You better get down from there before dad sees you up there." Severus called to him from the back door. Harry grumbled a bit about bossy older brothers but climbed down.

"See you tomorrow, Harry." Danny called before disappearing to his side of the wall.

/

Of course the brat would befriend the most annoying kid in the neighborhood, Severus thought as he ushered Harry into the house for dinner, he narrowed his eyes and forced himself not to whack the messy head of hair as it walked by muttering something that sounded like "overgrown dungeon bat".

Severus looked back out into the yard and noticed a bird approaching, once it got closer he recognized it as Avery's long eared owl, it landed near the door and held out its leg to be relieved of its burden. Severus always kept a few owl treats tucked away by the back door so he grabbed a couple to give the bird and untied the letter. Glancing inside to make sure no one was watching he quickly opened the seal, a Hogwarts Prefect badge fell out into his hand, Severus quickly read the note.

 _Severus,_

 _The badge is a portkey, Friday midnight._

 _Gathering at Lucius's place._

 _Try and come._

 _Avery_

Severus quickly shoved the letter, badge, and envelope in his pocket and went inside to help set the table for dinner.


	7. Chapter 7

**Well here it is, chapter 7. Thank you all for the favorites, follows, and especially the reviews. I love hearing what things you like or don't like (as long as your nice about it) about my story. Thanks for all the support. Please enjoy and leave some feedback!**

It had been a very long week for Harry. The house was hot and stuffy, and the back garden wasn't any better. He also learned that Tobias operated under the "Trust but Verify" motto, he'd ask Harry when he came home if he'd watched the telly, Harry would reply with an honest no (not like there was anything good on anyway), and then Tobias would put his hand on the box to make sure it was cool anyway. On Wednesday it wasn't, but Severus was quick to jump in and let his father know he had recently watched a show.

Harry would on occasion hang out back with Danny playing football in the small yard or a board game, Tobias gave him a few easy chores to do and aside from his almost nightly nightmares his week was quite dull. Harry was perfectly happy with this.

/

Severus's week, in contrast, was anything but dull. Harry had at least stayed out of his way for the most part during the week, but perhaps the child had seen that Severus was in a foul mood. Mr. Jenkins at the store had been impossible to please.

"Boy, set up the porridge display here and the soup in that corner." And of course once it was done he'd frown and say he wanted it the other way around, and no he hadn't changed his mind, obviously Severus hadn't really listened.

Lily had come in once on an errand for her mother. Severus had tried to say hello, but she huffed and headed in the other direction, then of course he got scolded again for dawdling as he was trying to compose himself to not look completely crushed.

The grumpy old lady that lived across the street had asked that he carry her groceries home like she normally did, Severus wouldn't normally have minded doing this for someone, except that Mrs Hawkins usually used the walk to let him know how much of a loser he was. She'd never cared for him after he had accidentally turned her cat into a skunk that sprayed her and her house when he was 6 while she was babysitting him. His mother had fixed it and obliviated her, but somehow the feeling of hatred and resentment sayed put and Mrs. Hawkins used every opportunity to let Severus know.

And today had been the worst day yet, a few of Severus's former primary school classmates had stopped in to "see how he was doing." In other words, to wait till his shift ended to try to beat him up. It was a fairly common game for them to try and get Severus alone and outnumber him then show him how much of a freak he was, usually by several punches to the gut and an occasional bloody nose. He almost got home this time too except for one of the gits had hidden in a side alley and jumped out at him just as he had finally put some distance between the others and himself. Severus wished he was allowed his wand he could hex them all.

"Severus! What happened?" Tobias said as he saw his son walk in the door late after his shift had ended. His face was scratched up, nose bleeding, and a large bruise was beginning to show on his bicep.

The teen shrugged.

"Do you want me to go talk to their fathers again?" Tobias asked but Severus shook his head. Two years ago Tobias had done just that and the bullying only got worse after because the boys were mad that they had gotten in trouble. Except the ringleader who's father knew Tobias from the factory and called Tobias a liar to his face saying that it wasn't his son that had anything to do with it.

Harry, who had been curled up on the sofa with a book, peeked over the top when Severus had come home, he was shocked to see his former potions master who had been so formidable in such a state. He knew exactly how it felt, but of course couldn't let on that he knew exactly what it was like to be chased around the neighborhood. Of course Aunt Petunia wouldn't have cared if he had walked in bloodied and banged up so long as he didn't make a mess anywhere in the house. He watched as Tobias helped Severus up the stairs to get cleaned up. Severus gave him a nasty glare so Harry quickly ducked back behind his book.

/

Severus turned the prefect badge over in his hand, the moon was almost full and shined brightly in the bedroom, he had wanted to be a prefect and had been quite disappointed when his fifth year letter came without the badge. It had been even more disappointing to learn Lily was given the honor but he hadn't. At least Potter and Black weren't either, that would have been unbearable. Harry's steady breathing in the bed next to him assured him that he was asleep. Severus kept going back and forth in his head if he wanted to go to the party tonight. On one hand he never got to see his school friends over the summer, he'd only ever been invited to the all Slytherin parties at school, this was his very first party invite, if you didn't count Lily's 10th birthday party. He was no fool though, if his father ever found out, and there was a very good chance he would, he would be dead. He weighed the risks and if it would be worth it.

Sighing he reluctantly put the badge down on the nightstand next to him and went to the bathroom to tend to his nose which had started to bleed again.

Severus watched the pink tainted water swirl down the drain, he still had on his jeans from the day and a shirt that now was slightly ripped and had some blood on it, he combed his hand through his hair and decided to go change. When he walked into his room there stood Harry holding the prefect badge.

"I didn't know you were a prefect." Harry said, Severus lept towards the boy to take the badge out of his hands and as he clasped his hand around Harry's hand and the badge he felt that pull at his navel he had just enough time to grab is wand off the nightstand as he and Harry were sucked into the portkey.

/

The boys landed in a pile on a gravel driveway.

"Getof me." Severus grunted as Harry had landed on top of his already bruised ribs.

"Sorry" muttered Harry as he quickly struggled to his feet and looked around. "Where are we?" he asked as he looked up at the tall wrought-iron gates in front of him and tall hedges on two sides.

"Malfoy Manor."

"Malfoy? I don't want to be here, Severus, take me home." Harry cried in a panicked voice.

Severus rolled his eyes "Well if you had kept your paws off my stuff you wouldn't be here. And how the bloody hell am I supposed to get you home now?" he hissed at the small boy standing barefoot and in his pajamas in front of him.

"I didn't know it was a portkey! Can't you apparate us home?"

"I'm not 17 yet, I don't know how." Severus snapped harshly, "Come on, maybe someone at the party will be willing to bring you back." He placed his hand on the gate and it opened for him. Severus straightened his back and with a purposeful stride headed towards the massive manor home in front of them. Harry jogged along next to him, he tried to grasp Severus's hand but the older boy shook him off.

The boys stopped and stared at the magnificence of the manor when they arrived, neither had seen a home this grand, "I bet it's bigger than Buckingham Palace" Harry said in awe. Severus grunted in agreement. He'd heard about the Malfoys weath, but this was obscene. As he stepped up to the door a house elf opened and bid them to enter. Harry saw that it wasn't Dobby, he wasn't sure if Dobby was alive yet or not. How old did house elves get, he wondered.

The two walked in awed silence through the front foyer.

"Severus! You came!" a boy about the same age said. Severus and Harry turned to see a boy standing in the doorway, he was dressed smartly and had in his hand a glass that looked like it had firewhiskey in it, he swayed slightly as he strode over to Severus and greeted his friend.

"Evan." Snape acknowledged.

"Snape! You made it. And what'd you bring with you? Something for target practice." A burly boy said with a cruel smile. Severus followed Mulciber's gaze and realized he meant Harry, but before he could even say anything the boy flicked his wand.

Harry had been trying to hide behind Severus and not be seen; it worked fine with the first boy who seemed to be a little drunk already, but the second had an evil look in his eyes that frightened him. He realized the boy was talking about him and wished he he was back home in bed. He saw the boy, flick his wand and suddenly his wrists snapped together as if binded by some invisible rope, the boy flicked his wand again and suddenly Harry was dangling by his wrists about a foot off the ground. He kicked his feet trying to reach the boy, but he was out of reach.

"Lemme go!" Harry screeched as he continued to kick and squirm with no affect. Severus just looked stunned.

"Mulciber, come on, let him down, I didn't bring him for you to toy with." Severus explained.

"Then why did you bring him?" Avery asked joining the group.

"He grabbed the portkey at the wrong time." Severus explained, he gripped his wand a little tighter.

"Let me go you bloody git!" Harry yelled.

Mulciber tisked, "No manners whatsoever." He flicked his wand again and Harry screamed .

To Harry it was as if a whip or belt had struck him cross the back.

Mulciber was about to do it again when Severus yelled "Expelliamous!" and grabbed the larger boys wand as if flew into his hand, he grabbed Harry with one arm and the little boy quickly wrapped his legs around the teen while Severus performed the counter spell to release the boys wrists. As soon as he was free Harry wrapped his arms around Severus neck and cried. Severus gave Mulciber a glare before turning to Avery "Where's Lucius?"

As if summoned by his name the wide doors at the end of the hall opened and Lucius strood through them followed by Narcissa.

"What is going on?" he demanded with a frown as he looked between Mulciber, Avery, Rosier, and Severus. Before anyone could say anything Narcissa saw Severus holding Harry.

"Oh! The poor thing!" She gasped, "Severus, bring him in here." She gestured towards a door that led into a small sitting room, "put him on the couch." Severus was grateful for the private place to put Harry down, Narcissa quickly summoned a house elf to bring a medical kit while Lucius dealt with the other three boys in another room.

"Damn that Mulciber." the young woman hissed as she gently lifted Harry's top to see the red lash mark on his back. "Why did you bring the boy?" she asked Severus, but not in an accusatory tone.

"It was not intended I assure you. He grabbed the portkey, didn't know what it was." Severus explained as Narcissa carefully tended to Harry.

Harry meanwhile tried very hard to be brave, but he was in a lot of pain and couldn't help but cry even after Narcissa gave him a vile of pain potion. "You let him hurt me, Sev." Harry said accusingly.

Severus didn't deny it, he should have acted sooner. "I'm so sorry, Harry."

Lucius had slipped in and watched quietly as Narcissa finished up and helped Harry put his pajama top back on. "Severus, who is the child?"

Harry just gave Severus a nervous look, unsure how the older boy would answer.

"My brother." He answered without a hint of wavering.

Lucius was taken aback, "I thought you were an only child."

"I was… till he came along."

Narcissa smiled and stroked Harry's hair. "He's tired, we should send them home, Lucius."

"I apologize for my other guests, their behavior tonight was unacceptable." Lucius said before snapping his fingers and a house elf appeared at his side.

"Nobby, take Severus and, Harry was it, home."

Nobby, the house elf, waited while Severus picked up Harry, the little boy wrapped his arms and legs around his big brother and rested his head on his shoulder, he gave a little smile and wave to Narcissa and then Nobby took Severus's hand and they popped out of the manor and to the front steps of their home in Spinner's End.

"Good night, sirs." Nobby said before popping away again.

The front door opened and the angriest looking Tobias that Severus had ever seen stood there, "WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?" He roared.


	8. Chapter 8

**A little bit about my Narcissa Black in ch 7 since she might be slightly different than canon. She's 21 in this time line, and although she is very prejudice and a snob she doesn't quite have a solid black heart especially when she sees a hurt child that clearly is important to a friend (Severus). She takes care of those that are important to her and as she has no current hatred towards Harry at this time because the whole defeat of Voldemort hasn't happened yet. Lucius Malfoy on the other hand simply wants to keep his hands clean. How bad would it look if it got out that there was a party at his manor and a fight broke out between his guests. The papers would have a field day! He'll do what he has to to make sure his guests are taken care of. I'm also pretty sure he wouldn't want his father, Abraxas, to find out he hosted a party with underage wizards and fire-whiskey while they were on holiday.**

 **Thank you all so much for reading. I can't believe there are over 100 people following this story already! I especially appreciate the comments. I hope you like this next chapter.**

"Daddy!" Harry cried and reached out for Tobias. His 7 year old impulses winning out over his 15 year old mind. Tobias was taken aback as he reached for the boy and held him, his hand automatically went to Harry's back to help hold him, he froze when Harry shrieked at the contact.

"He's hurt, Dad." Severus explained.

With a nod, the man carried Harry upstairs followed by Severus. He helped Harry out of his pajama top, with a serious expression looked at the mark across the small boys back, "What caused this?"

"Lash-hex." muttered Severus "We already put something on it to help heal it and gave him a pain potion."

"And are you alright?" the man asked his oldest.

Severus nodded.

Tobias had Harry lay down and retrieved some damp flannels to put over the heated mark, it was all he could do for the boy at the moment.

"Dad?" Severus started to ask.

"Not now, Severus." Tobias snapped " I am far to angry right now to deal with either of you, and Harry's already asleep. Go to sleep. I expect we'll have a very long conversation tomorrow."

Severus sighed, pulled off his jeans and crawled into bed. There was no way he would be able to sleep knowing that tomorrow was sure to be an especially unpleasant day.

/

Severus awoke to the sound of crying, he groaned and looked at the clock, half past six. Harry lay in the bed across him him thrashing and crying, clearly the pain potion and ointment had worn off, the mark on his back looked hot and blistered. He could only imagine how much pain the little boy was in at the moment. The next time he saw Mulciber he was going to hex him to oblivion and he didn't even care if he got detention for a month for it.

Tobias rushed in before Severus had completely woken up with a fresh cool flannel for Harry's back. Harry sat up and climbed onto the man's lap, straddling his legs so he could be carried easily. Tobias took the hint and carried the boy downstairs, Severus followed behind to help with breakfast since his father's hands were otherwise occupied at the moment.

Tobias managed to get Harry to eat a few bites of porridge before the child turned his head away, he sighed, that would have to do for now. He helped Harry to lay down on the couch and wished there was more he could do. Magical injuries were something muggles just couldn't really help with. Severus came and sat down on the couch next to Harry, the boy looked like he might be sick as he realized the moment of reckoning had finally come. Tobias paced in front of the boys for a moment.

"Severus, explain." was all he said as he crossed his arms.

"I… uh…" the teen struggled to find the right way to start when a knock was heard on the front door. Tobias opened it and sighed in relief.

"Oh, Albus, I'm glad you're here."

"Professor Dumbledore!" Severus said in awe that the headmaster was at his house. He stood so the Headmaster could sit, Harry pushed himself up a little to see better.

"Tobias. Severus. Harry, oh my." Dumbledore cast a charm on Harry to help with the pain "I'm afraid I don't have any pain potions to help, but the charm should last a little while. I'll send Madam Pomfrey over when I leave so she can tend to that. Who did this?"

"Mulciber." Severus grumbled.

Dumbledore nodded in understanding, "I take it then you were at the party at Malfoy Manor last night."

Severus sighed to himself, that wasn't exactly how he wanted this whole conversation to happen. A moment later his father had his ear in a tight hold and he winced in pain.

"A party?" he roared mear inches from his face.

"Yes, sir." he whispered.

"Was there alcohol there too?"

"Yes, sir." came the small answer and then a gasp of pain as Tobias twisted the boys ear slightly.

"Boy, you had better start explaining."

Severus only stood there however as his father's grip on his ear made it impossible for him to think of anything else other than to fight the impulse to try and knock the hand away, which experience had taught him would be a grave mistake.

Dumbledore decided that this might be the time to step in "Tobias, I'm sure Severus would be much better able to assist us with both ears intact." Tobias scowled but let go and Severus collapsed to the floor gripping his ear and trying to keep back the tears threatening to fall.

Once Severus had composed himself he started explaining about the letter and the portkey, how he had wanted to go but decided not to, how when he came back from the bathroom Harry was holding it and when he tried to take it away it activated.

"You mean you left a magical transporting… object where Harry could grab it? What would have happened to him if you hadn't come back from the bathroom when you did?" Tobias ground out through clenched teeth.

Severus hadn't even thought of that possibility.

"Now Tobias, it was a mistake anyone could have made." Dumbledore admonished "Severus, I need you to tell me everything that happened when you got to the manor last night. The Auror department came to me early this morning with some concerns, it turns out they broke the party up around 4am."  
Severus swallowed and continued with an occasional comment from Harry. Dumbledore listened intently while Tobias occasionally jumped in with a question.

"Thank you, Severus. That clears up a few inquiries. Now if you both don't mind, I'd like a word alone with Harry." Dumbledore said.

Tobias nodded "Certainly, Albus. I think Severus and I need to have a long thorough discussion upstairs anyway. Right, son?"

Severus's stomach did a flip and he felt like he was about to be sick. "See you at school, sir." he said to the Headmaster and reluctantly followed his father upstairs to his demise.

/

"Now then, Harry, Tobias said you haven't been sleeping well. Does it have to do with your previous time?" Dumbledore cut straight to the point.

Harry sat up a bit and pulled his t-shirt over, wincing as it covered his back. "Yes, sir. Mostly about Voldemort, but sometimes my relatives too."  
"He's still not gone in your time?" Dumbledore looked crestfallen.

"Well he sort of was for a little while, but then he came back." Harry explained. He then went on to explain about the triwizard tournament when he was 14. Dumbledore looked shocked when Harry finished.

"You mean to tell me, that despite the age line, you were entered and then I didn't pull you from the contest?"

Harry confirmed this.

"I must be completely senile in your other time. How on earth have the governors not removed me as Headmaster?" he asked not really expecting an answer.

"Sir, will I ever get back to my time?"

Dumbledore looked thoughtfully at Harry. "I've been looking into it, Harry. Right now I'm not sure what caused you to both deage and travel through time so I don't know how to send you back yet, I'm still working on it. But the future you would go back to wouldn't be the same as the future you left. That future no longer exists. It is important that you do not assume events will play out as they did before. Much has changed by your arrival."

Harry sniffed and rubbed his eyes.

"I am sorry, Harry."

"I just miss my friends."

"What about your family?"

Harry shook his head. "My parents died when I was a baby, and my relatives didn't like me."

The twinkle in Dumbledore's eye went out when he saw the sad look on the boys face, "How do you like it here with Tobias and Severus?"

"It's ok. At least Severus doesn't hate me as much as he did as Professor Snape."

"Professor Snape?" Dumbledore asked with surprise.

Harry grinned "Potions master. He's brilliant really, but he hated me."

Dumbledore stroked his beard thoughtfully, Professor Slughorn was due to retire in a few years…

"And Tobias? Is he good to you?"

Harry nodded with a smile "Yeah, he's great, he gave me clothes that fit, and I have my own bed here, and he doesn't take away meals. He even gave me a few toys!"

Dumbledore was shocked that clothes, a bed, and food were on Harry's list of things he was concerned with, that didn't paint a picture of a happy, healthy childhood in Harry's other lifetime.

"But…" Harry continued in a bit of a whisper "I really don't like it when he spanks me."

At that Dumbledore let out a hearty laugh and Harry pouted a bit. "Oh Harry, I don't think any children like that. I know I didn't."

"You?" the boy asked incredulously. Even though in this timeline Dumbledore was twenty years younger than the other timeline the man was still ancient and it was hard for Harry to imagine him as a boy.

Dumbledore chuckled and his cheeks pinked slightly in embarrassment, "My brother, Aberforth, and I tended to find ourselves in quite a few predicaments when were were boys. I, being the elder, usually got the worst of it. Something about 'Should have known better'. I do believe Severus is getting that exact same lecture as we speak." Dumbledore paused a moment and Harry could hear awful sounds of Tobias doling out punishment. He cringed remembering how Uncle Vernon had whipped him and how it would hurt for days sometimes.

"Well, Harry. I must get going. I'll send Madam Pomfrey over soon so she can tend to your back. Please give this to Tobias when he comes back down." Dumbledore handed Harry a large sealed envelope that reminded Harry of the manila folders teachers used to store paperwork.

Harry agreed and Dumbledore apparated away.

/

Tobias came down the stairs a few minutes later while buckling his belt, Harry froze as he watched, flashbacks of Uncle Vernon raced through his mind and he practically shook with fear and the memory of it.

"Hey!" Tobias said in a concerned voice, "Harry? Are you alright."

Harry blinked and snapped back to the present and began to cry.

"Shh, don't cry."

"Are you going to whip me too?" Harry asked, terrified of what the answer might be.

Tobias shook his head, "You didn't do anything wrong, and besides that, you're much too young for the belt. And I promise that Severus is just fine, a little sore, but fine."

A knock at the door interrupted their somber moment. Tobias opened the door and greeted Madam Pomfrey.

"You must be Harry! Professor Dumbledore told me a bit about you, lets check you out shall we." after a quick but thorough check up she gave a vile of a light blue potion to Harry to take for the pain as well as a calming draught. Then handed several more to Tobias instructing him to have Harry take them twice a day and also a small pot of an ointment to apply to his back every day to prevent a scar. By the time she had left Harry had fallen asleep again.

/

It was almost dinner when Harry woke up, he felt much better already and his stomach protested loudly from his skipping lunch.

He watched from his chair as Severus slowly came down to eat, glared at the almost non existent cushion on the chair, and then gingerly sat down at his place. Harry made a face in sympathy. He was surprised to see Severus in a good mood, he didn't seem to harbor any ill feelings towards his father, and actually seemed in a better mood than he had all week.

Towards the end of the meal Tobias decided it was time to discuss a few things, "Boys, tomorrow is Sunday, and I don't want any whining about going or what to wear."

Severus and Harry muttered their acceptance of the decree.

"I also learned that a certain someone is having a birthday soon." He looked expectantly at Harry. Harry looked surprised that his birthday was even being mentioned.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Severus asked between bites. Harry's cheeks turned a light pink as he looked down at his half eaten plate of food.

Tobias decided to push past Harry's embarrassment "What kind of cake would you like?"

"I…. I get a cake?"

"Well it is your birthday. What's your favorite?"

"I'm not sure. I never really had cake. I snuck a bite from my cousin's once but then my uncle saw and made me spit it out and then put a bar of soap in my mouth so I couldn't taste the cake anymore." Harry said this all rather quickly while still looking at his plate, he didn't notice Tobias and Severus staring at him until he was done, then realized how much he had just divulged.

Tobias cleared his throat in the awkward silence, "So how does chocolate sound?" Harry quickly agreed eager to move on "and I thought maybe we could go to the cinema, see a new film? What do you think Harry?"

"That'd be brilliant, sir. I've never been to the theater. Can we get popcorn?" Harry eagerly asked, suddenly excited for his birthday. Tobias laughed and agreed that they could.

" Now then, one more serious note, those papers Professor Dumbledore brought were your school records."

"Really? Can I see them?"

"You may. But I am a little concerned, it seems the school pegged you as a bit of a troublemaker," here he fixed Harry with a serious glare "pulling pranks, turning a teacher's hair blue!" Severus snorted into his milk "And going on the roof! I had better not hear any reports of that nature when you start here in the fall."

Harry wanted to explain that it was accidental magic, but it didn't seem like a good time.

"Furthermore, your teachers all had the same comment that you could have done well had you applied yourself. I won't tolerate not putting in an honest effort, is that clear?" he asked sternly.

Harry muttered his "Yes, sir" his excitement for the upcoming birthday completely gone for the moment. He wanted desperately to explain that he hadn't been allowed to do well, but he knew it would sound unbelievable.

/

Harry was under the covers with a comic book and flashlight when Severus came up to bed.

"You should be asleep." He told the younger boy.

Harry rolled his eyes, "I slept most of the day, I'm not tired yet." said Harry as he watched Severus fall on to the bed on his stomach. "Does it still hurt?"

"A bit. Not looking forward to sitting on those hard pews tomorrow. But I'll be ok by Monday."

"Aren't you mad at dad?"

"No, why would I be?"

Harry just blatantly looked at the boy without answering.

Severus sighed, "I'm not mad because I screwed up, I shouldn't have left the portkey where you could touch it, and I should have gotten rid of it when I got it. I didn't and you ended up getting hurt. Dad didn't do anything I didn't deserve."

Harry had to think on this for a while, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had never fairly punished him, the only few times it had been fair were indeed when Tobias had disciplined him and he had found that while he didn't like it, it was freeing in a way, no longer needing to carry guilt with him.

"Sev?"

"Hum?"

"Are you friends with those boys at the party?"

"I thought I was. But not anymore."

"That's good, Sev." said Harry sleepily, he rolled over and fell asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**Happy Monday!**

 **Aww shucks guys, thanks for all the feedback. Seriously, it totally makes my day when I check my email and find someone has left a comment about this.**

 **I do hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

He had less than two hours before he had to be back home for dinner and Harry wasn't sure it would be enough time as he ran through the streets headed towards the river. He was furious with Lily, yesterday at the after church social, Harry had seen Severus once again try and approach Lily only to be brushed off. He couldn't believe the person described as 'uncommonly kind' by Professor Lupin would be so harsh to Severus when he wanted to apologize.

He stopped at the sole bridge that crossed the river in town, it was double lanes wide both directions and the pedestrian lane on the edge was narrow. Fortunately at this time of day it wasn't very busy and Harry quickly made his way across the river to the other side of town. This side was harder to navigate than Spinners End with its straight boring numbered streets and avenues. This side of town had curving cul-de-sac's and street names like "Thousand Oaks Dr" and "Rolling Meadows Ln", finding his way around was a little harder and Harry had to ask for directions more than once.

Finally he reached the Evan's home, he looked at the picturesque brick home with flower planters at o

the windows, and a nicely trimmed yard "So that's where Aunt Petunia got it from" mumbled to himself as he looked at the almost perfect garden. Harry took a deep breath and walked up to the door and knocked.

The door opened and a horse faced teen girl with a long neck answered. "What do you want?" she asked rudely.

"I'd like to talk to Lily, please." Harry said as sweetly as he could.

Petunia narrowed her eyes at him "What for?"

"I just need to talk to her about something."

"Petunia, who is it dear?" a woman called from somewhere inside the house.

"Just some little boy, wants to talk to Lily."

Harry heard some stomping on the stairs and fiery red hair behind Petunia, "Its ok, Tuney." Lily said, Petunia huffed and walked away with a "whatever" muttered under her breath.

Lily leaned on the door frame and crossed her arms, "Harry, right?"

"Er, yeah. I need to talk to you. About Severus."

Lily's eyes got cold "Did he send you over here? Cause if he…."

"No!" Harry interrupted "No, I'm here on my own. Actually, it would probably be best if he didn't know I'm here. Listen I know he hurt you."

Lily snorted.

"But he's been trying to apologize to you." Lily just looked at Harry. "You're better than this Lily, I know you are, but right now you're acting like a total git. Forgiving people is important, especially your friends."

"You met me once, you don't know me at all. Besides he's changed, hanging around Mulciber and Avery and the likes. You don't know those kids, but they're bad news."

"We've met and Sev doesn't like them anymore either. Please Lily, give him a chance."

"Why should I?"

"Because…" Harry was growing frustrated now "because it's the right thing to do, and you know it." He finally spit out harshly.

"I'll think about it." Lily said. Harry nodded, that was probably the best he was going to get at the moment.

A clock in the house start to chime, "Shit. Gotta go." Harry said and ran off.

"Hey Harry!" Lily called after him, he stopped and turned, "Don't let your dad hear you talking like that." Harry gave her a smirk before taking off again.

When Harry got to the bridge over the river he had to stop, the traffic was heavy as everyone was rushing home after work. Cars were flying by so quickly Harry was a little scared to cross over the bridge in the small pedestrian lane, one car not staying in their lane and he'd be hit. As Harry was about to step on the bridge and start his trek across he was roughly grabbed by the shirt and pulled back. "Where do you think you're going, son?" a man asked. Harry looked up to see a police officer holding him back.

"I'm trying to go home, sir." he answered and pointed to the other side of town.

"You can't cross that bridge on foot. It's too dangerous. Get in the car I'll drive you home."

Harry groaned the way the traffic looked it would take longer to get home by driving, but he didn't have much choice as the officers heavy hand steered him to the car. Harry sat in silence as the police car made its way across the bridge, his stomach twisted in knots, he watched the little analog clock on the dash as the minutes ticked by, it was well after 6 by now and he was fairly certain having the police bring him home wouldn't go over well, even if he hadn't done anything horrible. As they drove closer to the house Harry wondered if it was possible to just live in the police car forever, surely it would be safer than facing Tobias.

/

"Where is he, Severus?" Tobias slammed his fist down on the counter. The teen flinched at the sound.

"I don't know. He said he was going to the park to play football and that he'd be back for dinner." Severus explained, for the fifth time since his father got home, he was really hoping Harry would show up soon.  
"I drove by the park on my way home, he wasn't there."

"I don't know, Dad." Severus almost shouted, trying very hard not to lose his temper too.

The doorbell chimed and Tobias quickly rushed to answer it.

"Mr. Snape?" The officer said.

Tobias was confused, and then worried, what had happened. "Yes? Can I help you?"

"No, but I think I can help you. Found 'em about to cross the ol' river bridge on the other side of town." The officer said while pulling Harry out from where he was hiding behind him. Tobias pulled Harry into the house and looked him over making sure he wasn't hurt.

"Thank you, Officer."

"My pleasure, good evening'." The man said and left. Tobias crossed his arms and looked down at the small boy in front of him.

"Did that man say you were on the far side of the river?" he asked with a low deep voice.

Harry looked up at the man standing over him, who from his angle must have been a hundred feet tall, he bit his lip and nodded.

"Do you recall my telling you on the first day that you were NOT to go across the river?" Tobias ground out.

"I forgot." Harry fibbed.

"Well I best help you remember then." Tobias was about to reach for the boy but he was faster than Tobias expected.

"NO!" Harry said panicked now. "I had to talk to someone. It was important!"

Tobias decided he'd play along for a minute, the boy would only dig himself in deeper anyway.

"And who was that?" the man raised an eyebrow.

Harry looked nervously between Tobias and Severus, he really hadn't wanted to tell them that he'd talked to Lily but it just slipped out when he panicked. "Lily" he muttered.

"Lily Evans? Whatever for?"

"I… I told her she was wrong, about not giving you a chance." Harry looked pleadingly at Severus for him to understand.

Severus instead turned red, "You did what?!" he yelled. "That's none of your business, you're going to make everything worse!"

"No! I was trying to help." Harry pleaded for him to understand.

"I hate you! Stay out of my life." Severus yelled at the little boy who burst into tears at that.

Tobias looked between the two boys, Harry was pressing himself against the wall with tears running down his face while Severus looked angry, panicked, and about to cry himself. He sighed, when did parenting become so difficult? "Upstairs, Harry." He hated this part.

"No." the little boy begged "Please, don't." big tears rolled down his face but he didn't fight it when Tobias took his hand and led him upstairs.

/

Severus couldn't believe it! The little brat ran across town to talk to Lily about him, probably making the whole situation worse. He figured he'd take out his frustration on the pile of dishes in the kitchen and began to vigorously scrub a pot. A few minutes later there was a soft knock on the back door. Severus sighed and went to open it.

"Lily." he gasped

Lily looked at her friend and suddenly felt shy, "Hi Sev. I… well Harry came over a little while ago."

"Mhum, yeah, so we heard." Severus looked up to the ceiling drawing Lily's attention to Harry's crying.

Lily made a face, "I hope your dad isn't too hard on him. Anyway, I've never been told off by a 6 year old before."

Severus scoffed "Don't let him hear you say that." At Lily's confused expression he added "He'll be 8 on Saturday."

Lily chuckled, "Well, he basically let me know I was being an arse, said I should try and forgive you. I wanted to say he's right."

Severus almost cried in relief and pulled Lily into a hug "I'm so sorry I said that to you."

After a moment the two broke apart, Severus smiled all the frustration he'd felt the last several weeks melted away, Lily blushed a little and tucked her hair behind her ear.  
"Daddy's waiting in the car, I have to get going."

"Ok." Severus agreed and watched Lily go out the back garden door.

/

Tobias made his way down the stairs and to the kitchen where he sat down in exhaustion.

"Alright, dad?" Severus asked as he put away some dishes and wiped down the counter.

"I've never met a more stubborn child. My hand hurts and the little rascal isn't even slightly remorseful." Tobias said feeling defeated. He wasn't sure what to do further, he refused to resort to harsher methods on a child so young, but Harry had cried and howled and when asked if he was sorry the imp said no. Tobias had gone so far as to give him a second round of smacks but it had done no good in the end.

Severus watched his father put his head in is hands, he'd never seen him not know how to handle a situation before. "Maybe I should talk to him?"

Tobias gestured with his hands towards the stairs "Go ahead."

"Harry?" Severus pushed open the bedroom door.

"I'm not sorry I went!" came the defiant little voice. Entering the room Severus sat on his bed facing Harry's.

"Why not?"

"Cause I needed to talk to Lily."

"You know that's not why Dad got mad right?"

Harry looked confused. "He didn't want you going to the other side of town."

Still confusion, Severus sighed "The bridge is too dangerous to walk on, people get hit by cars on there every other week."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh. I mean I don't think he's thrilled that you put your nose in my business, so I'm sure that's part of it, but he's really mad about you going over the bridge. You should have asked him, he probably would have drove you."

Harry thought for a moment then shook his head "Couldn't risk him saying no." Harry studied Severus for another minute. "I thought you were mad at me."

Severus couldn't hide his smile "Lily came over. Said you told her off." Harry smiled. "So, thanks for going. You knew you were going to be in trouble didn't you?"

Harry's grin got bigger "Yeah, but it was worth it. So how did you and Lily meet if there's no way to cross over the river?"

"Oh there used to be a separate pedestrian bridge, but a flood two years ago took it out and they haven't put up a new one yet. That side of town is stalling, something about not wanting riff raff in their parks. So dad or her parents drive us over.

"Harry, maybe you can at least tell dad your sorry, even if your not." Severus gave Harry a wink.

Harry smirked, "That's a very Slytherin idea of yours, Sev."

Severus laughed "You've got no sense of self-preservation, kid. I'll eat my shoe if you don't end up a Gryffindor." At that Harry's face lit up.

"Now, try to look somewhat repentant. You go down there all grins like that Dad will know something is up."

Harry sobered up, "How's this?" he asked pouting slightly and made puppy dog eyes.

"Better. Oh and Harry, next time you think you can go messing in my business I will knock the stuffing out of you." Severus threatened as he pushed Harry out of the room.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello Readers,**

 **Thank you again for the lovely comments and support.**

 **Aya, lots of fluff coming up in this one, actually it's basically all this chapter is, nothing super substantial happening in this chapter.**

 **Enjoy!**

Harry could feel the excitement in his skin, like electricity all over, tomorrow he would be 8 (again) and he couldn't contain the energy. Of course it HAD to be raining tonight and he was stuck indoors so he'd run up to his and Severus's bedroom to get a toy, then back down to the living room, the kitchen for this or that, repeatedly. Tobias had asked him to calm down, but he just couldn't. He was running so fast, then suddenly the couch was in the way, he gracefully, like an Olympic athlete in the 110m hurdles lept one food on the cushion and then over the back end, well maybe not just like an Olympic athlete, but close enough.

CRACK

"Ow!" Harry cried grabbing his bottom where Tobias had just landed his heavy hand.

"I know you're excited for tomorrow, but that does not mean you can hurdle the furniture."

Harry pouted, "Sorry." His repentance was short lived as he ran up the stairs a moment later.

"Severus!" Tobias yelled into the kitchen. "Did you give Harry sweets?"

"I wouldn't dare." Severus deadpanned. He smirked when his father looked back at the telly though. Mr. Jenkins had in fact given Severus a few chocolate bars that had been damaged and couldn't be sold, so Severus had shared with Harry earlier that day, a decision he was regretting as the little boy bounced around the house, the sugar high combined with the excitement of his birthday was too much to be contained in his little body, but there was no way he'd tell his father that.

Tobias checked the time, quarter after 8. "Harry, time for bed."

"Aww, but it's still early."

"It's after your bedtime."

"I ALWAYS stay up late for my birthday." Harry said firmly.

"Not anymore. Up!" Tobias fixed the boy with a no nonsense look and Harry relented.

With a huff he stomped up the stairs muttering something about "can't make me sleep." Tobias chuckled and shook his head, he could understand the excitement, from what he could tell Harry had never celebrated his birthday at all, no cakes, parties, presents, it had been completely overlooked by his relatives, and with it being in the middle of summer holidays not even teachers would have done anything like they might have for pupils whose birthday was during the school year. He was looking forward to giving Harry his first happy birthday.

Harry was out cold ten minutes later.

/

"No, no, Severus, the table goes the other way….. Yes, that's better…. Do we have the balloons? What about the…"  
"Dad! Its fine. Relax." Severus panted.

"The cake! We forgot about the cake!"

"Lily is bringing it over. Please calm down." Severus begged his father to sit down at one of the small tables they had put up in the back garden. The Evans family was coming over and Danny and his mother from next door. A relatively small gathering, but it would be more than enough for Harry. "How did you manage for my birthdays?"

"Your mother did most of it." Tobias answered.

Severus gave a curt nod "Yes, that would make sense." Severus tied up another balloon and set out the plates. "I think we're already. Harry and Danny should be back from the park with Mrs. Finnegan shortly and Lily.."

"We're here!" Lily cried as she came through the garden door holding it open for her parents to come through followed by a dour Petunia.

Mrs. Evans brought the cake into the kitchen and called out "I brought some candles in case you didn't have any."

"Candles! We forgot candles" Tobias cried out. Severus rolled his eyes.

"We're back!" Harry yelled from the house as he and Danny ran through to the back garden. Apparently the trip to the play park had not curbed Harry's energy at all. "Wow!" Harry's jaw dropped as he saw the little back garden transformed by the simple addition of a few colorful balloons and a couple card tables.

"The pizza boy was heading to the door just as we were." Mrs. Finnegan announced as she made her way through to the garden followed by a teen a little older than Severus who carried a couple of pizza boxes, Tobias paid the youth and showed him out.

The boxes were opened and everyone started helping themselves to a slice.

"Mmm Hawaiian! My favorite." Said Harry as he pulled one pineapple laden slice out.

Almost everyone made a face of disgust, pineapple on pizza was just… wrong.

"Yes!" Cried Lily, "I love Hawaiian pizza, no one ever orders it." she said as she grabbed another slice and Harry grinned up at her. They both found spots at the tables. Severus gave his father a light elbow and nodded in their direction.

Harry had pulled off every piece of pineapple and set it in a neat pile on his plate to be eaten later then started pulling the ham off and eating it as he did. Lily, unable to see Harry from her spot, was doing the exact same thing. They each picked up their slices and took a bite from the crust end first.

"Well that's rather unusual." Tobias muttered.

/

Tobias pulled Harry up to stand on his chair and protectively kept his arm around the boy's waist so he wouldn't fall. A beaming Harry suddenly felt very shy and rested his head on Tobias's shoulder while the little group sang to him. Harry couldn't remember ever being this happy, he had a dad, and a big brother, and his mom and grandparents (although they didn't know it) were celebrating with him, this was by far the best birthday ever, the sudden realization of all this was a little too much and Harry quickly tried to wipe away the tears threatening to fall.

"Harry?" Tobias asked with concern as he saw Harry's tear filled eyes, he quickly pulled the boy into his arms and that broke the dam. "What's wrong, Harry? I thought you'd like this, I'm sorry we couldn't do more."

"Ungrateful brat." Petunia muttered to herself, but no one heard her.

Harry pulled away and looked at his dad, "No, no it's perfect. Thank you. I never had someone care before."

"The candles are dripping wax on the cake!" Danny yelled, completely oblivious to the emotional moment. His mother gave him a light cuff but the spell had broken and Harry quickly blew out the candles in one go before Mrs. Evans took the cake to cut it.

After eating the biggest slice of the first birthday cake he could remember made by his mom (unbeknown to her), Lily handed him a present "Open ours first."

Harry smiled and unwrapped the large box "Lego Building Set! Thank you!" Harry admired the set of little blocks, he'd often watch Dudley get the building sets, although the lug of a boy had never shown an interest in them Harry had still never been allowed to touch them.

Danny and his mother had gotten him a handful of matchbox cars and Tobias and Severus got him a few books (classics adapted for children), and a Pocket Transistor Radio which Harry was looking forward to trying out, the house could get very quiet especially with nothing good on the telly during the day (or when Severus was hogging it).

/

Harry couldn't have asked for a better day to celebrate, shortly after the Evans family left and Danny and his mother went back home next door Harry, Severus, and Tobias walked the few blocks to the nearby theater.

Harry's eyes were wide as he saw the large screen, something he'd never been able to do in his first life either, but as excited as he was for the movie, the excitement of the day finally caught up to him and he ended up falling asleep for the last half hour of the film. Tobias ended up having to carry him home and tucked him into bed.

/

Sunlight streamed in the little bedroom and streaked across Harry's face. He groaned and rolled over and cracked open his eyes. Severus was quietly sleeping in the bed across from him. Harry considered going back to sleep but his stomach rumbled loudly demanding food so he sat up and headed downstairs. Normally Tobias was up puttering around the kitchen Sunday mornings but it was eerily quiet, a quick glance at the clock showed that it was only 6, a bit early to be up for a Sunday.

Harry looked around the kitchen for a moment, not sure what to do next, but another loud rumble in his stomach propelled him to action. He got the kettle started for some tea and pulled out eggs and bacon. He'd had almost 10 years experience making the Dursley's breakfast and he hadn't lost the knowledge, but he quickly found out the skill was a little rusty as his small arms struggled to move the pan around and he could just barely look over the stove.

Tobias always liked sliced fried tomatoes with his breakfast so Harry decided to make some for him, he struggled to handle the knife in his small hands and almost cut himself a couple times. He pushed a stool towards the stove so he could see better and added the tomatoes to the pan.

While he was working, Harry didn't notice how hot the pan was getting and a moment later it quickly caught fire. Harry stared at the pan for a moment, not being able to remember how to handle a grease fire, was it put out with water or use the lid. In his panic Harry was about to pick up the pan all together to take it outside when he was pulled away from the stove. He stood frozen in place as Tobias turned off the stove and covered the pan, the fire out within moments before turning on Harry.

"Just what do you think you're doing?"

"Making breakfast."

"You're too young to do that unsupervised." Tobias scolded giving Harry a little shake.

"I used to make breakfast for my relatives all the time!" although now that Harry thought about it, he was probably closer to 10 before Aunt Petunia let him use the stove alone. "I was hungry, and I wanted to do something nice."

"Dad, I think you burnt breakfast." a sleepy Severus said stumbling into the kitchen, his hair disheveled as Harry's always was.

"No more cooking alone. Understood?" Tobias waved his finger at Harry who had taken to staring at his toes.

The small untidy head nodded and he quickly wiped his eyes, he was always mucking everything up. Tobias quickly scrapped the burnt food and sighed as that was the last of the bacon, eggs, and tomatoes it would have to be porridge again this morning.


	11. Chapter 11

**Ah, such a busy week I hardly had time to write! And then I struggled with how I wanted this chapter to play out, let me know what you think please!**

Harry was frantically pulling out all the pots and pans from the lower kitchen cabinet, he had already done the same with the cabinets in the living room leaving piles and piles of stuff on the floor. He was starting to get worried, Tobias would be home from work soon and the house was a complete mess, he had to find….

"I hope you have a good explanation for tearing apart the house." Tobias had just come home from a long day at work and finding the mess he had walked in on was not helping his mood.

Harry snapped his head up, "I misplaced something. I'll set it all right."

"That you will." The man agreed as he pulled out some things to start dinner. "What is it you're looking for? I can't imagine you misplaced something in a pot." he said glancing at the large stew pot Harry was holding.

Harry opened his mouth to respond. A loud yell from upstairs stopped him. Tobias rushed up the stairs to the boys room, Harry right behind him.

Severus was standing in the middle of the room his blanket in one hand, shaking. He was shock white.

"Severus? What's wrong?"

The teen only pointed at his bed, Tobias looked and saw a reasonably large snake coiled up in the bed, head drawn up, ready to strike. The man protectively pulled his son behind him as he tried to determine the best way to get rid of the serpent.

"Don't hurt him!" Harry cried as he he realized what happened, he rushed forward to the snake. Tobias tried to grab him but the small boy was faster.

"Harry, back away. That's an adder."

Harry ignored the order and quickly scooped up the snake. "I've been looking for you." He whispered and bent his face down and rubbed noses with the snake.

"Harry," Tobias growled "put it down."

"Why? He won't hurt me. He's my friend" the child said, not paying any attention to the panic on Tobias's face as he cuddled his little friend. The snake slithered on his arm and made itself comfortable. Tobias thought he would have a heart attack but was slowly starting to come down from his panic.

"Harry you put that down right now." Tobias took a step towards the boy but the snake hissed at him and he stepped back again.

Severus however was irate "You put that in my bed!"

"Of course not, he probably liked your bed because it was warm."

"Whysss are the other two leggerssss ssso loud?" the snake hissed at Harry.

"You sssscare them."

"I wouldn't hurt them."

Severus could not believe what he was seeing, Harry was cuddling the little poisonous snake as if it were a fluffy bunny rabbit "Are you TALKING to it?"

Harry nodded and looked up at Severus and Tobias, "What?"

Severus was staring at Harry as if the boy had grown an other head, an evil one and Tobias did not look pleased with him. He gulped and took an unconscious step back.

"Harry you need to put him down. NOW!"

Harry shook his head "You'll hurt him!"

"Damn right, he could kill you, or us."  
"He won't. He's my friend."

"It's a snake! And a dangerous one at that!"

Harry just shook his head, he couldn't believe they would hurt his friend. "I won't let you hurt him. He's my friend. Can't I keep him? Pleaassseeeeee" He said it with all the determination and stubbornness his 8 year old self could produce while pulling his friend closer to his chest protectively.

Tobias pinched his nose and Severus scowled, while the man was trying to figure out the best way of convincing the 8 year old that he couldn't keep the snake, even though Harry seemed completely comfortable with the animal he couldn't trust that it wouldn't strike him or Severus or a guest. No, the snake had to go. Meanwhile Severus was studying Harry, the boy was talking to the snake, he only knew of one other parselmouth, He-who-must-not-be-named. Not exactly someone you wanted to share a rare gift with.

"Where did he come from?" Tobias wanted to know, planning to bring the animal back.

"The play park, some boys were throwing stones at him. I saved him." he said proudly.

"Dad," Severus whispered to his father "talking to snakes is a sign of a dark wizard." Everyone in the wizarding world knew that, he felt his father should at least be made aware. Of course Harry overheard and frowned but remembering how everyone reacted the first time his unique gift was revealed he knew arguing the point would be moot.

Tobias thought that was ridiculous, if 20 years ago someone would have told him witches and wizards and magic existed he would have probably believed it to be evil, and then he had met Eileen and they had Severus. His son was born magical but there was no way he would have believed his child to be evil anymore than he thought Harry was because he could do something unusual.

"Please can we keep him."

"You-Know-Who talks to snakes"

"I'll take good care of him."

"That thing almost bit me!"

"He's really good, he won't bite."

"Dad!"

"Please don't take him away."

"Daaaad!"

Tobias's head hurt "Enough!" it wasn't quite a yell, but the boys quickly quieted. "Harry, you can not keep him."

"But.."

"No, we'll drive out of town find a nice wooded area for him. I can't allow something in this house that could hurt someone..."

"He won't!"

"Do not interrupt me, you might be able to communicate with it but it is still dangerous. Now get in the car."  
Harry shook his head, his eyes were starting to water "Harry, do not test me. Do as I say." The boy slumped in defeat and whispered his apologies to the snake in his hands, Tobias turned to Severus "And don't let me hear you talking about Harry being evil again." he snapped.

"I'm sorry, they won't let me keep you." Harry hissed to his friend as he sat in the wagon driving out of town, the snake nudged him understanding, tasting the salty tears falling from the large green eyes.

Tobias thought his heart might break seeing Harry so distraught, if it had been a grass snake he probably would have caved and let him keep it, the least he could do was find a safe out of the way area to let it go.

Harry sat silently the entire drive home then disappeared into his room refusing to come out even for dinner.

/

Harry lay on the arm chair, feet dangling off of one side and head on the other, his hair was soaked with sweat and stuck to his forehead. It was day 10 of a heatwave and nothing helped bring any relief. Severus lay on the couch the fan in the corner of the room rotated with a quiet hum back and forth blowing sticky warm air on both boys. Going outside where there was no shade and only pavement was even worse, the back garden lawn had turned brown in the heat. At the start of the heat the boys had tried to cool down with cold showers or the outdoor hose, until Tobias found out and yelled at them for wasting water, now they were limited to one brief shower a day.

"Severus, it's hot." whined Harry.

The black haired teen turned and fixed his dark eyes on Harry and gave a slow sarcastic clap at the young boys brilliant observation.

"Isn't there some way to cool down?"  
Severus looked at the telly which was off, it got to warm if it was in use with this heat and Tobias was worried it would overheat so they weren't even allowed to watch, he sighed when an idea came to him. "Get your shoes on." he told Harry.

"Where we goin'?" Harry asked as he and Severus walked briskly through the hot streets.

"To cool down of course."

"But where?"

They rounded the bend and Harry found himself looking at the river separating the town, Severus started following it north they soon came to a bend hidden from the view of the bridge and houses, Harry heard the other children before he could see them, the sounds of boys having the time of their lives in the river. His jaw dropped when he saw almost a dozen other boys swinging off of rope swing and diving into the murky water below.

"Why didn't you think of this earlier?" Harry demanded.

"It's not exactly allowed."

"Won't dad get mad?"

"I wasn't planning on him finding out."

"What about Lily, how does she manage this heat?"

Severus smiled, a smile that only showed bitterness "They're probably at the community pool, conveniently located on their side of town."  
"And with no way to cross the river safely, we're all stuck here to melt." Harry finished with his own resenting tone.

Severus nodded and motioned for Harry to follow down the small footpath to the bank where they shed their clothes and joined the other boys. In Harry's first timeline he hadn't learned to swim till he was 10 when he took swimming in physical education class so he wasn't surprised to learn that his body hadn't retained that skill either, he was pleased however that relearning it wasn't too difficult and he was keeping up fairly well with the older boys. Most of the youth were around 12, there were a few Severus's age as well but Harry was definitely the youngest and smallest. He particularly enjoyed the rope swing, the breeze while soaring through the air and then jumping off the makeshift seat into the cool water below.

/

Tobias wiped his brow, the production floor was sweltering, the heat wave was causing the equipment to have issues and some of the other workers looked ready to faint. He went to find the manager.

"Sir, it's not safe in this heat." Tobias argued with the production manager.  
"Quit your complaining and get back to work." The fat man sitting in an office with three fans pointed on him barked back. Tobias gritted his teeth and went back to the floor, just in time too as one of his workers fainted from the heat, Tobias luckily was within a few steps to help. Once he was able to help her he went right to the next upper manager.

"Sir, we've had one worker pass out from the heat, the ambulance is on the way, if you don't want lawsuits on your hands you will shut down the line." This manager at least had some sense and agreed right away that the conditions weren't safe with the heat.

Tobias drove his oven of a vehicle towards Spinners End, the early release from work had him winding his way slowly past the river where he saw several boys swimming, he shook his head as he drove, that river had a dangerous undercurrent and was polluted, What kind of parents let their children swim there? He thought, until he noticed two skinny dark haired boys in the mix, he hoped it was just his imagination and that Severus and Harry were at home.

/

A commotion at the upper bank got the attention of the little group as a boy on a bicycle emerged at the edge, red faced and panting. "The factory closed early because of the heat, everyone's going home!" he shouted. Before Harry could process what that meant there was a frenzied rush to the shore, Severus grabbed him and pulled him out of the water tossing his clothes at him.

"Hurry!" Severus cried he already had his cut off shorts and t-shirt on while Harry just watched everyone run up the path.

"We have to go NOW." he cried as Harry struggled to put his clothes on his damp body, Severus didn't even let him tie his shoes before pulling him along. Harry struggled to keep up with the older boy, his shoes tripping him up as they ran.

"What's wrong?"

Severus didn't respond he just ran through the streets taking a shortcut through a back alley before pausing to let Harry right his clothes, Severus then continued to pull Harry along till they got to their back garden door he gave the younger boy a quick look over.

The boys rushed into the house "Hi Dad. You're home early." Severus said, a little too brightly. The teen was good at maintaining a neutral expression for his age, but perfecting it would come as an adult.

"Amazing isn't it? And where have you two been?"

"Just around." Severus said nonchalantly.

Tobias raised an eyebrow "Your clothes are wet." He observed "Harry? What were you doing?"

Harry glanced past Tobias to Severus who was shaking his head fervently.

"Uh, we were just cooling off."

Severus winced.

"Really and how did you manage that?"

"The garden hose?" Harry grasped at the first idea he had not knowing how else to answer, he really needed to get better at lying. Tobias went to the back door and looked at the hose, laying untouched for the last week, the yard completely dry.

"Severus? Why don't you tell me what you were up to?"

"We were with Davis." it wasn't a lie, Davis was at the river as well.

"Noah Davis?"

"Yes, sir."

"That's very interesting." Tobias said dangerously and suddenly Severus felt nervous, "You see I drove by the Davis boy on my way home, he was soaked like you both and his father was dragging him home by the ear yelling about swimming in the river." Severus paled "So would either of you like to come clean as to what you were doing or should I tell you what you were doing?"

There was a long uncomfortable silence, Harry shuffled his feet not knowing how to react while Severus glared at his father determined not to back down. Tobias crossed his arms and fixed his oldest with a hard look knowing that in the end he would win the contest.

Severus broke first as Tobias knew he would "It was just really hot, dad, we just needed to cool down." it was almost a whine. Harry cringed when he heard it and Severus cursed himself for backing down in the battle of wills.

The next minutes were torture as a scathing lecture about the dangers of swimming in the river but how much more disappointed Tobias was in both of them for not coming clean about it when asked. The lecture seemed to last forever and at the same time the boys worried what they'd face when it was over. Harry didn't think it was awful, but it didn't stop him from crying when Tobias smacked his still damp bottom, which it turns out hurts more, and then found himself contemplating the hideous wallpaper in the corner for the next quarter hour. Severus found himself with the impossible chore of cleaning out the basement before the weekend was up. He quickly realized that although the job itself was going to take every free moment because it was unfinished and inhabited by half the insects and arachnids in Britain it was also significantly cooler down there and it was its own relief from the crushing heat.


	12. Chapter 12

**Thank you again everyone for your kind words, such motivation for me to get that next chapter out quickly for you. This chapter is a bit more angst than the last couple have been, but I hope you like it just as much.**

"Dad, you're not at work." Severus commented as he and Harry made their way to the kitchen for breakfast.

"A profound observation, son." Tobias said in such a manner that reminded Harry so much of Professor Snape that the younger boy struggled to hide his amusement, clearly this is where Severus's grown up self got his dour personality from. "Actually, today we're going down to Cokeworth Primary School to register Harry for the fall."

Harry scrunched his nose. "Tough break kid." Severus teased.

"You're coming too."

"What? Why? I thought you wanted me to clean the basement?" he sputtered.

Tobias smirked, "You've been working hard down there the last few days, a break is in order, maybe you can show Harry around the school after our meeting."

Severus scowled, there was no point in arguing.

/

Harry sat nervously on the chair waiting for the Headmistress to call them in, he kept biting his nails and Tobias would gently pull his hands down every time. Finally the receptionist told them to go in. Tobias headed in first followed by Harry and Severus last. Harry gasped when he entered the office, his first thought was how much it reminded him of Professor Umbridge's office, the walls weren't pink and it wasn't pictures of cats on the walls, but bulldogs, pictures of bulldogs, bulldog figurines, everything bulldogs. Harry felt his chest tighten just walking in the room.  
"Well don't stand there gawking, come in." A harsh but familiar voice ordered. Harry quickly glanced at its source.

"Aunt Marge?" he squeaked as he saw a robust woman in her early 30s sitting at the desk with a sour expression on her fat face. She narrowed her beady little eyes at him.

"Of all the impertinent things to say. Young man, it is considered rude to address me by my given name, however you came about finding it out, and furthermore I am not your aunt."

Harry panicked when he realized his error, for it was in fact Ms Marjorie Dursley who was the Headmistress of the school (who ever gave her the job should have their head examined), the last time he'd seen her was when he had blown her up when he was 13. He glanced at Tobias who was looking at him with a glare that could freeze the sun.

"Sorry." Harry muttered.

"Mr. Snape," Ms. Dursley continued in her typical barking tone "I realize the child has only been in your care for a short time, but I expect his manners to be improved upon immediately."

Harry took the moment to slip into the chair between Tobias and Severus and decided the safest thing to do was to stare at the pattern on the carpet.

"As you know, I do not tolerate insolence or idleness. We've had enough meetings discussing this when Severus attended if I recall correctly."

Tobias simply nodded. Severus looked away clearly annoyed that his time at the school was brought up. "What school are you at now?"  
"He's at a boarding school in Scotland. Doing quite well there too." Tobias supplied saving Severus from the scrutinizing glare.

"Glad to hear that." Marge said in a way that made both boys know she didn't really feel glad at all "They're building a new school for troublesome boys, should be open in a year or two I believe, unfortunately it's a bit too late for this one." she nodded towards Severus. Tobias sat quietly, he hated this woman just as much as Severus did, unfortunately there was not much he could do about her and rocking the boat would make it harder for Harry over the next few years so he kept quiet. "I have looked over Harry's transcript here, it does not make a good impression I'm afraid. I'll be keeping a close eye on this one, turning a teacher's hair blue, of all things! And going up on the roof! How did you manage that?"

When Harry didn't answer as he was too busy studying the carpet patterns. "Young man, I am speaking to you, I suggest you pay attention."

"Oh, um. Sorry. What?" Harry said, flustered particularly when he noticed Tobias displeased expression.

"I asked you how you managed to get on the school roof."  
Harry shrugged "I'm not sure."

Marge studied the small boy sitting in front of her for a moment, "Your records and current behavior suggest your former school was … lacking in discipline. Rest assured that will not be the case here." Harry swallowed remembering his former life and Aunt Marge's comments about Harry needing to be beaten. He shuddered at the memory and tried not to think about it as he looked around the little office only half listening to Aunt Marge (he would continue to think of her as Aunt Marge for two reasons. First after 15 years it had become a habit, and second it seemed to annoy her and that made it worth it) and Tobias discuss him. Severus sat sulking next to him.

At long last they left the dreadful office and Severus gave Harry a quick tour of the school so he wouldn't be completely lost come September.

/

Back at the house Harry had gone down into the basement to help Severus clean, he had nothing better to do and honestly didn't mind the work. But something was bothering him.

"Sev?"

"Hum?" the older boy sounded out without stopping what he was working on, sorting through a shelf of old tools.

"Do they use the cane at school?"

Severus paused and looked at the worried boy next to him "The board won't allow it in primary, but that fat pig Dursley would if she were allowed. She will use the strap though, so mind you stay in line. Seems like she's already got it out for you." Harry's eyes got wide. "I'm sure you'll be ok." Severus added, a lame attempt to calm Harry's obvious anxiety.

Harry was unconvinced, he had no luck with teachers at all. "You ever get hit?"

Severus looked far off but he nodded and swallowed, without an other word he went back to work. _I'm dead_ Harry thought.

/

"What's in here?" Harry asked as he pulled a trunk out of a small space in a dark corner.

Severus looked at it, he couldn't remember seeing it before, he shrugged and sat next to Harry as he fiddled with the clasp. A moment later the lid popped open and the boys peered inside. At first glance there were several books and random news paper clippings from the daily prophet. The boys didn't see any particular commonality as to why these particular articles had been saved. Severus pulled out a large tome. "It's a potions book." He glanced at the inside cover "It was my mum's."

"I've never seen that book before." Harry commented.

Severus gave him a funny look "Well of course not, you haven't been to Hogwarts yet. But I haven't either." Harry blushed realizing his mistake. Severus set the book aside for the moment, he'd look through it later, next he pulled out a photo album.

Harry crossed his legs and sat next to Severus as they flipped through the old photos.

"I think that was my mum" Severus said pointing to a picture of a little girl about 5 or 6 that looked very much like him, only gloomy in a short fancy dress with a huge bow in her bobbed hair. There was an other photo of her at what must have been her first day of Hogwarts, wearing her robes, no house crest could be seen. Harry had never seen a kid look so unhappy their first day of Hogwarts. There were many other pictures of people that Severus didn't recognize at all, they were all clearly magical, although no one waved or smiled they just looked miserable and eventually walked away. One photo had a second girl in it with glasses and pimples, she looked somewhat familiar to Harry, although he couldn't quite place her. Harry silently sat next to Severus, he missed his photo album and his friends, although not nearly as much as one might have imagined, largely due to to the fact that he actually _knew_ Lily now and had seen James once, he was largely unimpressed with his father.

After the photos were looked through they found a packet of letters, it looked like far too much to read right then so they pushed it aside, Severus lifted out a small cigar box and tried to open it but it seemed stuck. Harry felt uneasy looking at the box, he could feel magic around it, but it wasn't the warm golden glowing magic he felt the first time he had held his wand. This felt dark and cold.

"Severus, please don't open that." Harry whispered.

"Why not?"

"It just doesn't feel right to me. I'm scared."

Severus gave Harry a incredulous look, this was the kid chasing after snakes, going across the river knowing he'd get in trouble, and climbing out their bedroom window, scared of opening a little box. He rolled his eyes and focused his magical energy into the box, having read up on wandless magic a bit already. Severus gave the lid a pull and the combined efforts of his magic and brute force the lid popped off.

Harry watched as it felt like slow motion when the lid loosened and lifted off the box, but he never got to see what was in it, at that instant his scar seared and he clutched his forehead, it hadn't hurt this bad since he saw Mr. Weasley attacked at the Ministry. He wasn't sure if he was screaming or not, he thought he might have been, and then all was black.

/

Severus slammed the lid closed. Harry passed out as soon as the box was closed fortunately he was already sitting and only slumped over onto Severus when this happened. Tobias was down into the basement a moment later having heard the scream.  
"What happened?"

"I'm not sure, we were looking through this chest and he started to scream, then he fainted." said a very shaken Severus.

"Put that stuff away, you've no business looking through it." Tobias ordered with a frown as he saw the trunk, then scooped up Harry to carry him to bed.

Severus sighed and put the cigar box, photo album, and other papers back into the trunk, but stashed the potions book elsewhere, he knew it was likely the trunk would be moved and he still wanted to study it. Then followed his dad and Harry upstairs.

/

"I won't have this namby-pamby, wishy-washy nonsense about not hitting people who deserve it. A good thrashing is what's needed in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred. Have you been beaten often?" Aunt Marge asked him while she chugged down wine.

#

He slithered towards the man with red hair and struck out at him over and over again, blood everywhere.

#

Harry struggled against the gravestone as he watched Wormtail cut off his own hand.

#

Harry sat in a tree staring down at the dog growling and snapping at him. Tears streamed down his face, he wanted to get down, he was hungry and had to use the bathroom badly.  
"Please!" He called out to the Dursleys sitting at the patio table enjoying tea, they simply laughed and their faces swam in front of Harry's eyes, mocking him.

"Harry! Wake up Harry." Tobias shook the boy roughly to rouse him.

The little boy stilled from his thrashing and crying as he woke up and looked around bleary-eyed until he realized where he was.

"Harry? What was happened?"

"Please don't make me go to that school." He sobbed remembering the look on Marge's face from his dreams "Please."

Tobias and Severus exchanged worried and confused looks as they tried to calm the distressed child.


	13. Chapter 13

**To answer a question a couple people have asked:**

 **How did Dumbledore get Harry's records? Magic, of course! And a fair bit of forgery. Harry's first meeting with Dumbledore happens before he goes to live with the Snapes. Dumbledore was able to extract Harry's memories of reading his report cards and create new ones off of that.**

 **Perhaps at some point I'll write a prologue but I'm not overly concerned about it yet since its really not overly important to this at the moment.**

 **And holy bejesus my inbox completely exploded with mail from people favoriting, following, and reviewing since the last chapter. It was great!**

 **Thank you all so much, its really my favorite kind of notification and really made my day.**

 **Enjoy this next chapter and let me know what you think.**

Harry read over the school supply list:

 _The Standard Book of Spells_ , _Grade 6_ by Miranda Goshawk

 _Advanced Potion-Making_ by Libatius Borage

 _Confronting the Faceless_

 _A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration_ by Emeric Switch

 _Advanced Rune Translation_

 _Flesh-Eating Trees of the World_

If Harry were in his own time this was the same list that he would have gotten and he wasn't exactly sure how he felt about that realization.

"Severus, hurry up!" He called up the stairs "It's time to gooooo." he added with a whine. Severus was taking his sweet time this morning and it was driving Harry mad.

"Diagon Alley isn't going anywhere." Severus said as he came down the stairs excruciatingly slow.

Harry jumped up from where he was sitting "Ok, Dad, he's here we can leave now!"

Tobias didn't even look up from his paper as he took a sip of his coffee "He hasn't even eaten yet."

Severus made his way to the kitchen.

"Ugh" Harry huffed and fell back to the couch, this was taking for-ev-er.

After what Harry thought was sure to have been a few hundred years, at least, Severus was ready to go and they piled into the wagon for the drive to London. They found a place to park not far from the Leaky Cauldron.

"I don't know how you two manage to find this place so easily, I never seem to notice it until you point it out, Sev." Tobias commented as they entered the dingy pub and headed to the back. Tom came and tapped the gateway for them and the three entered.

They had barely taken ten steps before Harry asked if they can look at the Quality Quidditch Supplies.

"What's the point?" Severus grunted.

Harry looked affronted "To see the newest brooms."

"We're never going to be able to buy one though, so way waste the time?" Severus muttered. Tobias sighed, he would love to be able to buy his boys a broom but at the end of the day food on the table and a decent roof over their heads won out.

Harry was undaunted "We could still look!"

"Maybe later, first Gringotts, I've got to exchange money into that weird currency of yours, and then school supplies. After that we can look at the more amusing stores."

"Oh, alright." Harry conceded.

Gringotts looked just as impressive as it had the first time he had seen it, he trailed along behind Severus and Tobias. Tobias kept muttering how he hoped he had brought enough money to purchase the things they needed. Severus also exchanged his earnings from working over the summer so that he had some pocket money for Hogsmeade trips.

"Robes first, I think." said Tobias once they were done, he lead the boys past Madam Malkin's shop to a little one further down that sold second hand robes.

Apparently Severus had grown several inches in the last year, unfortunately the second hand shop only had uniforms in his size but no robes, so the trio trekked back to Madam Malkins.

"Ah Welcome. Who's getting fitted today? Step on up." she gestured towards the stool and Severus stepped up, and the tape measure flitted around him for a few minutes despite Severus attempts to knock it away.

"Do you have any discounted robes?" Tobias asked discretely so other customers wouldn't hear.

Madam Malkins didn't seem to get the hint "Of course, we have some clearance and returned items in the back here, lets see if I have his size."

Severus turned bright red.

"Will you be needing anything for the little one?" she asked nodding at Harry.

"Not today, thank you." Tobias answered as he looked through the small selection of unwanted robes before pulling out 3 that seemed to be in the best shape. "We'll take these."

The next stop was for books, they walked right past the bustling Flourish and Blotts to the 2nd hand booksellers.

"Ah, Mr. Snape. I wasn't sure when you'd be in, I set aside the 6th year texts that I got in." the bookshop owner pulled out four texts from the back they had all obviously had more than one previous owner. Tobias looked through them as Severus browsed a bin of bargain books. The man made a face, one of the books had been badly defaced with notes and scribbles, he handed that one back to the seller and paid for the three others.

They made stops at Flourish and Blotts for the remaining books, the Apothecary, and finally a small stall that sold parchment, quills, and other school supplies. Harry would have liked to have known about some of these discounted shops the first time he'd been to Diagon Alley. Having to buy all his own school supplies had made him acutely aware of the expense.

"Now then, how about a bite to eat and then…"  
"Tobias!"

Tobias spun around towards the voice, "Arthur!" Harry and Severus turned to the red haired man who looked much much younger than Harry remembered, two small boys were on either side of him. The men greeted each other with a friendly hug. Arthur occasionally hired on Tobias to be a muggle consultant.

"Tobias, good to see you. You remember my boys, Bill and Charlie." he put a hand on their heads as he introduced them.

"My yes, you've both grown so much! How old are you now?"

Charlie held up 3 tiny fingers while Bill proudly stated that he was 5.

"Almost ready for Hogwarts! And how's Molly?"

"Very well, I'm taking the boys out of her hair for the afternoon they've been such a big help with new baby Percy, but she needed a bit of a break."

The men talked for a few more minutes while Bill, Charlie, and Harry all eyed each other curiously. It felt quite odd for Harry to see Bill and Charlie as little kids, he'd only known them as adults after all.

"Oh I almost forgot, Harry! Arthur, this is our new addition, Harry. Harry, this is Mr. Weasley." Tobias introduced him and Mr. Weasley shook Harry's hand. "We were about to get a bite to eat, care to join us?"

Soon the little group found a place to eat that was kid friendly with a play area. Bill and Charlie were much more interested in that than their food, but after some coaxing ate enough to satisfy their father and quickly ran off to play. Tobias and Arthur ended up in a very boring conversation about Muggle interaction within the wizarding community.

"Dad" Severus interrupted "Can Harry and I go look around?"

Tobias looked at the bored faces of his two boys, he was enjoying his conversation with Arthur and didn't want to leave. "Yes, that's fine. Stay together and be back here in 1 hour. Not a minute more , Severus."

"Yes, sir." Severus smiled "Come on, Harry." and the two ran off to look at the Quidditch store.

/

Harry and Severus quickly headed to Quality Quidditch supplies to see the newest brooms in the window (they weren't allowed in without an adult). The new Nimbus 1700 was significantly different than Harry's old Nimbus 2000 and he muttered under his breath about the differences.  
"What was that, boy? This broom is state of the art, can't find a faster one." the owner standing by the door stated.

"If the tail was tapered with a back hook to be more aerodynamic it would be even better." Harry commented and then walked away with Severus while the shocked owner stared after him and then studied the broom in the window himself.  
"Kid's got a good point." he muttered before rushing inside to write the manufacture.

Severus and Harry made their way to the sweet shop where Severus treated Harry to a Mice Pop and bought a couple sugar quills for himself before heading off to Gambol and Japes Joke Shop. Harry was shocked to learn Severus had any interest in the shop knowing how much he loathed any manner of joke as an adult.

"We only have 10 minutes, I'm going to that back section, don't break anything." Severus told Harry as he headed to the back of the joke store.

Harry perused the section with brightly colored packaging and silly gags, there was a slime station, and small toys too. He was about to take another lick of his mice pop when it was pulled right out of his hand.

Spinning around "Hey! Thats mine. Give it back." He glared at the boy in front of him and fumed inside knowing that it was none other than Sirius Black. He really was a bully.

"No." The boy idly studied the little sugar confection "Raspberry right, my favorite."

Harry looked around to see if Severus was in view, but he was still in the back of the store.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size." Harry said.

"You were at Kings Cross with Snivellus weren't you?"

"Who?"

"Snape."

"Don't call him Snivellus. Give me my candy back!" Harry said loudly, hoping someone nearby would intervene.

"A mice pop, how fitting for a little snake like you."  
"If this is how Gryffindors act I wouldn't want to be one." Harry's temper flared up and he put up his hands to shove the older boy. His magic flared and combined with the small shove and Sirius not expecting the small boy to have so much power the older teen went flying back into a display that crashed down around him.

Harry's eyes got wide and his jaw dropped down as he saw hundreds of bottles of some sort of potion fall and break, he was in so much trouble.

/

Severus heard Harry's yell and headed back to the front of the store just as Harry pushed Sirius into the display, he watched as bottles broke over the boys head and crash down around him and patrons quickly run towards the source of the commotion. He briefly saw Harry run out of the store.

"Harry!" He ran after the boy but was yanked back by his clothes.

"You're not going anywhere." said the manager.

"My little brother!" Severus pointed to the door.

"Louis, go see if you can catch the little one that ran out." he ordered to one of his stock boys "You're not going anywhere till we get this sorted out." He pulled Sirius up "You two, come with me." he barked at two other boys standing nearby. Regulus Black and James Potter.

The manager led them to a back room and pushed them all in and took their names to contact their parents "Fight or make a mess back here I'll beat your arses myself." he said and slammed the door shut and locked it.

"What the hell did you do now, Sirius?" Regulus hissed.

"Nothing, that little brat shoved me into the display then ran off."

Severus snorted "Just randomly decided to push you, did he? You didn't do anything to him first?"

"Shove off, Snivellus." Sirius snarled and then sat down, the other boys followed suit, Sirius and James sitting on one side of the room, Severus and Regulus on the other while they glared at each other.

"How much stuff do you think broke?" James asked in a bit of a worried tone. He hadn't been directly involved but he wouldn't be surprised if he still got in some trouble.

Sirius shrugged "Who cares." he said bitterly as he picked his trousers he knew if he had to his father would cough up the money.

"If father has to pay he'll take it out on your arse." Regulus chimed in. Sirius scowled if he didn't get beaten for this it would be a miracle.

Severus put is head in his hands, Dad was going to kill him, he and Harry should be back at the restaurant about now and here he was stuck in a back room with Regulus Black and two idiotic Gryffindors while Harry was who knows where, and all that ruined product, if they got blamed there way no way they could pay it back.

/

Harry rushed out the door of the shop and blindly ran. He heard someone yell after him to stop but that made him run faster, he had no idea where he was going. He'd spent several weeks in Diagon Alley when he was 13, but it looked so much different now, and he was so much smaller that it didn't take long before he was completely lost. He didn't recognize anything as he wandered around. A few people gave him funny looks. One elderly witch approached him offering to help, but she scared him and he took off at a run again. Soon he couldn't even see where he was going because he was crying so much. Finally he stopped and sat down on a step outside a dingy store and hugged his knees as he looked around trying to figure out if he'd ever seen this area before.


	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you again to everyone that commented. Your excitement about this story really keeps me going. I hope you enjoy this chapter. As always I love hearing what you think.**

Tobias sat at the little restaurant drinking his coffee and watching the other patrons around him. Arthur had left about 10 minutes ago and the boys should be back in a few minutes.

5 minutes later: Tobias frowned when he looked at his watch, those boys were going to be getting a strongly worded lecture.

10 minutes later: Tobias was angry, he had been very clear to be back ON TIME. He was mentally deciding whether he was going to spank them or ground them.

15 minutes later: Worry had now pushed aside the anger, Severus was generally very responsible and seldom ever late, he was going to give them a couple minutes more before going out to look for the boys.

17 minutes later: A young man, a couple years older than Severus, came in and looked around the little restaurant, once spotting Tobias he came right over.

"Are you Mr. Snape?" he asked.

Immediately Tobias's stomach flipped "Yes." he responded briefly, he started to gather the parcels.

"Oh I'm glad I found you, there's been an incident will you please come with me."

"Are my boys alright?"

"Please just follow me."

Tobias was irritated by the lack of response but quickly followed the young man out and down the street towards the joke shop and the back of the store where a stately woman was standing next to a smaller man who must have been nearing 70. Neither looked very happy as they spoke to the manager, who looked more than a little angry as he gestured towards the mess at the front of the store.

"Are you Mr. Snape?"

"Yes. What is going on? Where are my boys?"

The manager nodded to the young man who opened up a back door and Severus sheepishly stepped out. Tobias rushed over and gave him a hug, looking him over to make sure he was ok. "Where's Harry?"

Severus looked at him, bit his lip nervously and shook his head.

Tobias gave his son a good shake and anxiously asked again where Harry was.

"I… I don't know." Severus cried as his father shook him, "After the crash, he ran out, I … I tried to go after him but they wouldn't let me."

"So no one knows where my son is?" he asked the group around him. He felt sick.

"Sir, we need to discuss the merchandise that was damage." The manager used the inopportune moment to bring up his concern.

Tobias wheeled around to face the man with a white beard and mustache "I don't give a damn about your product right now. My 8 year old is missing, no thanks to you."

/

Harry's sobs started to slow down and he wiped his nose on his shirt and made a face at it _Little kids are so gross_ he thought. He would have been 16 in his own time by now and here he was sitting on a step crying like a baby, he needed to calm down and think. Dad would be expecting them at the restaurant, it was probably well past the time to go there, and he didn't even want to think about how much trouble he was going to be in but he couldn't sit on the step in some back alley forever either. Determined to find his way back Harry stood up and set off in what he thought was the direction he had come from.

After a short while Harry heard a familiar voice and ran towards it, but then stopped when the familiar face was in sight. Harry realized he wouldn't know him, oh well, not really much he could do about that.

"Excuse me, sir." Harry said as he tugged on the man's jacket.

The large man turned around and peered down at the small boy in front of him "Well hello there little one, what can I do fer yeh?"

"I got lost. Can you help me?"

"Of course I can. Names Rubeus Hagrid. You just call me Hagrid alright. Let's get you to your mum and dad, they're probably worried sick right now."

Harry smiled as the half giant lifted him up and put him on his shoulders. He could see everything from where he was now.

"I was supposed to meet my dad at the little restaurant. But I got lost."

"You weren't by yourself were you?" Hagrid asked with a frown.

"No, I was with my brother Severus. Do you know him? But we got seperated."

Hagrid frowned again, he was certain Severus was an only child, maybe a different one, he thought, but how many kids named Severus where there?

They checked the restaurant but Tobias wasn't there then Hagrid insisted that they go to the joke shop. Harry agreed that it made sense to look there but was hesitant on going back.

/

"Dad!"

Tobias heard Harry cry out and he turned, what he saw took his breath away, the tallest man, more of a giant actually, walking towards him with Harry sitting atop his shoulders. The huge man quickly lifted Harry down and the little boy ran to Tobias open arms. He pulled the boy in for a hug and the looked him over to see he was alright, once that was determined he landed two of his hardest swats on the boys seat before pulling him into a protective hug again. "You don't ever run off like that again. I was so worried."

"I'm sorry. I just got scared." Harry sobbed into his father's chest.

"He's had a right rough day from what I can tell. Don't be too hard on the lad." Hagrid jumped in, hating to see any child upset, even if it was from a well deserved smack.

Tobias looked up at the half giant, "I'm sorry, and you are?"

"Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts"

"Thank you for helping Harry out, Mr. Hagrid."

"Ahem, now that the matter of finding the boy has been taken care of perhaps we can discuss my losses." the store manager cut in.

Harry and the other teens told what had happened and by the end everyone was giving Sirius a dark look.

Mrs. Black was not pleased to hear of her son bullying a child. She might not like muggles, muggles borns, and half bloods, or anyone really but you didn't openly show your feelings, it was a most unslytherin thing to do. She sighed reluctantly "Send us the itemized bill please, it's obvious this wouldn't have happened at all if my disgrace of a son had behaved himself."

The manager easily agreed and as far as he was concerned the matter was closed. Severus and James both let out a sigh of relief to not be blamed at all for this mess although Severus was still a little worried that he would be in trouble for not having Harry tethered to his side.

"You just wait till I tell your Father." Mrs. Black said. Sirius blanched and his mother grabbed both her son's and apparated away with a pop.

Mr. Potter turned to his son to leave when Tobias stopped him. "A word if you don't mind, Mr. Potter."

"Of course." the little old man said, he was a happy sort of fellow with a similar twinkle in his eye that Dumbledore usually had. Harry liked him at once and felt a warm glow knowing this was his grandfather.

"It seems our boys have had a few issues over the years in school." Tobias began. Severus groaned, he couldn't believe his father was bringing this up.

Mr. Potter looked confused, "I'm afraid I don't understand."

"Has Professor Dumbledore not contacted you over the years?"

"No." Mr. Potter looked at his son for some explanation, James stayed quiet however.

Tobias frowned, "Your son has been bullying and tormenting my son since their first year at Hogwarts. I get at least 3 notes a year from Professor Dumbledore that Severus has been victim to a prank by your son and his friends. I want it to end."

Mr. Potter looked shocked and dismayed, he looked at James "Is this true?"

James bit his lip the same way Harry always did when in trouble and nodded.

Mr. Potter apologized and said he was quite sure this year would be different before giving James a disappointed look before leading his son out.

/

The drive home had been long and painfully silent. Both figured they were in trouble but they couldn't quite figure out how much.

Tobias used the time to think about how to handle it. Even if Severus had been right next to Harry, Sirius would probably still have started something. But he shouldn't have let Harry out of his sight.

And Harry… should certainly not have shoved Sirius and run off. He sighed he couldn't just let it go and decided a few smacks and some time in the corner were all that was needed for Harry. Severus could go to bed at Harry's bed time, all children hated that especially teenagers and after the emotionally draining day he knew the teen needed the rest anyway as much as he would hate it.

Having figured that out, Tobias enjoyed the silent drive home as the boys quietly waited their fate from the back seat.

/

"It's not fair, I want to go too!" Harry whined. Severus rolled his eyes. For the last 3 days Harry had whined non stop about going to Hogwarts. They finally made it to platform 9 and ¾ and Harry had upped the intensity.

"You will cease this nonsense this moment or you will have a very uncomfortable ride home, am I clear?" Tobias said sternly.

Harry pouted out his lip and nodded. Then gave Severus a tight hug, "I'm going to miss you!" he said honestly.

Severus was surprised. He had never anticipated Harry missing him, or perhaps more surprising him missing Harry. "I'll be sure to write."

"Promise?"

"Yeah."

"Every week?"

"Not likely."

Harry frowned and then shrugged he knew no one ever wrote home that much.

Severus turned and saw at the far end of the platform were Sirius and Regulus Black with their parents. They gave Regulus the typical hugs goodbye, clearly going to miss him. Sirius just stared at his feet while his father cuffed his ear and then mother berated him for something. He then limped to the train and got on without so much as a goodbye or hug. Regulus spotted Severus and ran over "Want to get a compartment?" he asked.

"Sure, why was Sirius limping like that?"

"Oh that. After Diagon Alley Father took his cane to him, he couldn't walk for two days!" he said this last part in a bit of a whisper "Still a bit sore I think, but father wouldn't let anyone give him something to help. Madam Pomfrey probably will when we get to Hogwarts." Regulus said this with a nonchalant air. He only cared about finding a good spot on the train.

Severus gave hugs to his father and Harry and followed Regulus on board.

Tobias turned to Harry "We'd better head home now, you start school tomorrow too."

Harry wrinkled his nose and Tobias chuckled.


	15. Part 2 - Chapter 15

**Thank you all for the kind comments. I hope you all had lovely holidays. Mine were fun and a much needed break. I'm eager to get started on Part 2 for you all. Please enjoy!**

September 1, 1976

Severus climbed on board the Hogwarts Express and found a compartment to share with Regulus. His friend began chatting away about all the things he did over the summer, flying, visiting the Karkaroff's, and attended some formal family gathering which sounded generally dull to Severus. He listened to Regulus ramble on for a bit before pulling out the potions book he found in the basement and began to read. A couple more students joined their compartment, one Slytherin and one Ravenclaw. Severus ignored them, engrossed in his book which he was excited to learn explained the theory of potion making in much greater detail than the recommended texts.

Severus passed up the snacks from the trolley when it came by choosing to stick with a ham sandwich that his father had packed, he had limited funds to get him through the year and wasn't about to waste them on candy.

At long last the train pulled into the station at Hogsmeade and the students piled out, eager to get to the feast.

"Snape!" a voice called out. Severus turned to find Potter coming up towards him, Severus gripped his wand just incase. Confrontations with Potter usually ended with drawn wands and detentions.

"What do you want, Potter?" Severus ground out, he was in no mood to start the new school year in trouble.

James held up his hands to show he didn't have his wand drawn "I… um.." he stumbled over his words unsure how to begin.

"Spit it out will you, the carriages are starting to leave. And I'd rather not be stuck with you." Severus snapped.

James blushed a bit "I wanted to apologize, for being an arse to you the last few years." he rambled this last bit out quickly.

Severus narrowed his eyes. "Are you apologizing because you're sorry? Or because your father is making you?"

"Um…" James ran his hand through his messy locks.

"Pathetic." Severus hissed and stalked off to get in a carriage with some straggling Hufflepuffs.

"Told you not to bother with the git." Sirius said as he walked up to James having watched the interaction behind a pile of trunks. James frowned at him, his father had lectured him, then actually punished him (almost a first), and lectured some more and he didn't feel like getting a howler his first week back at school for not following through and doing his best to make things right with Severus. James ignored Sirius and climbed in one of the remaining carriages followed by Remus, Peter, and finally Sirius who winced every time the wheels hit a bump in the road.

/

"Harry, are you sure you don't want me to walk you in?" Tobias asked as he stopped the wagon at the side of the school parking lot.

Harry shook his head, there was no way he wanted to be seen being walked to his classroom like a 5 year old. He was going into year 3 (again, he thought a little bitterly). The boy took a breath and climbed out of the wagon, he didn't remember Hogwarts feeling this imposing as he walked through the main doors and down the hall to the 3rd year wing. Harry was relieved when he walked into the classroom, he was one of the first kids in the room. There were no names on the desks, he always hated assigned seats, making his way towards the row of desks by the window he chose a seat about halfway back. Perfect, he could see the board but not too close and also had a view outside. He sat quietly watching the rest of the class filter in. Most of the kids gave him a quick glance before finding a seat. The bell rang and the last few stragglers rushed in followed quickly by a tall slender man in a tweed coat and salt and pepper hair.

"Settle down." he ordered and the few children talking quickly quieted down. "I'm Mr. Harris. I'll start with the roll, make sure we're all in the right place." He winked and smiled and the tension in the room broke slightly. He went down his alphabetical list and after calling out "Smith, Deborah." he paused and frowned slightly. "Snape, Harry?"

Harry raised his hand.

"Any relation to Severus Snape?" Mr. Harris asked. Harry groaned inwardly that Severus had been so disliked and now that reputation was smearing his already spotted one.

"Yes, sir." said Harry politely, he wanted to add that he was adopted but with twenty four sets of eyes staring at him he didn't feel like going into his life story.

"Hum.." Mr. Harris pressed his lips together and glanced down at the desk in front of him "Ms Brown, please switch seats with Mr. Snape."

Harry's jaw dropped he was being forced to move to the front row of the class, the spot reserved for either trouble makers or kids like Hermione, and since he was not like Hermione Harry immediately knew what he was automatically labeled as. "But I like this seat!" Harry argued not moving from the seat he picked out with the perfect view out the window and still a good view of the blackboard at the front.

"If you're anything like Severus I want you front and center. Move." Mr. Harris snapped. Harry glanced around the entire class was just staring at him. He swallowed and picked up his bag and moved to the seat indicated. The girl who had also been displaced gave him a glare, yup, Hermione-type thought Harry, she was also not happy to leave her front row seat that she had carefully picked out as well.

Harry plopped into the seat of the desk and stared down at the top of it, he could feel the eyes of his classmates still boring through his head. Hot tears started to fill his eyes and he blinked rapidly to clear them away. He was NOT going to cry.

Mr. Harris finished the roll call and began passing out textbooks and discussing classroom rules. Harry only half listened, as he focused on making sure he wouldn't cry his defenses kicked in and he got angry. Once Harry was sure that no stray tears would escape he lifted his head again and fixed the teacher with a cold glare that actually made Mr. Harris shiver when he noticed.

Mr. Harris had been watching Harry, at first the child seemed broken and sad when told to move and he wondered if he had been too hard on him. After a few minutes, however, Harry had lifted his head and gave him the hardest look he'd seen since Severus had been his student, and he knew immediately that Harry was going to be just as much of a handful.

/

Harry poked at his carrots and mashed potatoes, he wasn't very hungry. Today had been the worst first day of school yet. Mr. Harris clearly didn't like him and his classmates, not wanting to get on the teacher's bad side gave Harry a wide berth as well. Tobias looked down at the messy head of dark hair, he'd never seen the child so dejected.

"How was school?"

Harry shrugged and mashed up a carrot with his fork as if it had done something horrible to him. Tobias had finished long ago but Harry had barely touched his food and Tobias had been trying to encourage him to eat. The phone rang, Tobias ignored it, but when it continued on to the 12th ring he sighed and answered.

"Harry, there's an emergency at the factory. I have to go. Will you be ok on your own for a few hours?" Tobias asked. He really didn't want to leave Harry alone when he seemed so sad right now but on the rare occasion an issue happened at work he was expected to go in.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Harry said "But do I really have to finish this? I'm not hungry."

Tobias frowned but relented, it wasn't often Harry put up a fuss about food. "Ok, make sure to get to bed on time." He kissed the top of the messy hair before leaving. Harry sighed, cleaned up the dishes and went to his room.

It felt weird being on the other side of the room again. Now that the trundle bed was tucked away under the main bed till December the room felt big and lonely. He missed Severus, he missed Lily, and Ron and Hermione. And Hedwig, when ever he was sad sitting with Hedwig and stroking her soft feathers helped. Harry pulled Max-Winston, the bear, closer to his chest and cried silently into his matted well loved fur.

/

Severus was excited for potions this year. This was the year they really got to make some interesting potions and the idiots of the previous 5 years would have been weeded out, failing to get an E on their OWLs. He followed Lily through the door and they picked a table at the front of the room as they normally did. Severus looked around as the other 6th year students continuing on with potions came in. He scowled when he saw Potter, Black, and Lupin all come in; Pettigrew did not join them.

Professor Slughorn spent the first half hour showing them several advanced potions they would be brewing this term "Does anyone know this last one?" Professor Slughorn asked. Severus could smell the light scent of floral and fresh baked biscuits rising from the cauldron.

Lily's hand shot up, at his nod to continue "Amortentia." she answered "it smells different for each person, I smell cinnamon fireballs and sun-kissed skin…." Professor Slughorn quickly covered the cauldron and Lily blushed and looked away. Severus looked questioningly at Lily but she refused to look back at him. Slughorn lectured a bit about Amortentia before pulling out a small vial from his pocket.

After promising the first student that successfully brewed 'Draught of Living Death' a small vial of Felix Felicis Slughorn instructed his class to open to page 10 and begin.

Severus opened the book and read over the directions for the potion, but it didn't sound right to him. Cutting Sopophorous beans was absurd, they were far too difficult to cut. He made a note of the change in his book and continued on carefully marking up the parts that he knew were wrong after studying his mothers potions book.

"What are you doing? You're adding too many beans." Lily hissed at him as he added one bean more than the text called for.

Severus shrugged "Improvising."

Lily rolled her eyes and continued attempting to cut up her sopophorous beans.

"And time!" Professor Slughorn called sometime later. Severus smiled down at his potion, exactly how it was supposed to look. On a whim he had added a clockwise stir occasionally and noticed the positive effects. He made a note of this change as well.

Slughorn moved around from table to table, he was, of course, impressed with Potters and Blacks potions. He smiled brightly when he came to Lily, but who could not? However, Severus's potion was clearly the best of the group and Slughorn presented him with the prize.

Lily gave Severus a congratulatory smile. James and Sirius scowled at him although both knew they really hadn't had much chance with Severus and Lily in the class.

/

Mr. Harris walked up and down the rows of desks passing out corrected homeworks and tests as his students worked on their handwriting sheets. He had announced that any student with a C or lower would need to have the tests signed and returned by Monday. Stopping just behind Harry's desk the man looked down at the messy head of hair, he could tell Harry was trying but the boys handwriting was terrible as he clearly struggled through the cursive letters. He placed Harry's folder on the boy's desk before moving on to the next student.

Harry paused, staring at the folder that contained two spelling tests, one math test, and several homeworks from the last three weeks. Nervously he picked it up and glanced inside: 55% and 65% on the two spelling tests and 80% on the math. He closed the folder and slipped it into his bag, he did not remember third year being this difficult the first time around. Then again, when he lived with the Dursleys he was only expected to pass, but not do better than Dudley. Showing up to class everyday was the extent of the effort he had to put in. Now things were different, after the first week of school Tobias had checked his bookbag and found unstarted homework, resulting in Harry finding himself stuck at the kitchen table for hours completing the pile of papers he had forgotten about.

Of course by the time recess rolled around the folder and tests had escaped Harry's mind completely and he had forgotten all about it.

/

Tobias was not happy, he had checked Harry's bag only to find a folder of poorly done homework and failing tests.

"Harry!" Tobias yelled up the stairs.

"Yeah?" asked Harry as he came down the stairs, stopping halfway when he saw what was in the man's hand.

"Would you mind explaining these dismal grades?"

"Um…" how could he explain? It was hard. He didn't understand the homework sometimes and Tobias had been working extra hours a lot so he had given up on much of it.

"I'm guessing by the 'parent signature' stamp on half of these that you were supposed to show me. Yes?"

"I forgot." Harry whispered to his feet.

Tobias nodded and looked at the tests "Did you study?"

"A bit."

Tobias frowned as he studied the half completed assignments "I expect better next time."

Harry nodded not knowing what else to say, he supposed he could try to study a bit more, but it was hard to remember he had to do homework, and if he did, understanding what to do. Even more frustrating was knowing that he had known how to do all of this before, and just like everything else he had lost he had to relearn this too.


	16. Chapter 16

**You guys are the best, really. I appreciate all the comments, favorites, and follows so much.**

 **Anyway on to the next chapter shall we, this one is … not at all fluffy. Let me know what you think and most importantly.. enjoy. Thanks!**

 **Early October 1976**

"Comeon Lil, don't you want to know where Remus goes all the time?" Severus asked as he and Lily walked through one of the many gardens on the grounds.

Lily fixed him with a look "No. It's not our business, and besides we'd be breaking so many rules."

"Since when has that stopped you?"

Lily gave Sev a side eyed look and smirked slightly before saying in a serious tone "I just have a bad feeling about it."

Severus huffed, "Fine, don't go. I am." he stalked off before Lily could protest and try to talk him out of it. About a week after the new school year started Severus had spotted Remus out after curfew, of course he followed until a large black dog jumped at him out of nowhere and almost bit him. By the time he had gotten away Remus was out of sight. He'd been vigilant at watching the marauders and knew they were planning an other escapade soon, and when they went, he'd be ready. Severus was a bit disappointed that Lily wasn't interested in finding out what they were up to, he thought that by appealing to her Gryffindor sensibilities of rushing head first into anything would work, but she had rolled her eyes, reminded him she was a prefect, and not to get caught if he was going to be an idiot. Girls, ugh!

/

Sirius Black knew Severus was spying on their little group. The boy was too curious for his own good and so he figured if Severus Snape wanted to know their little secret so badly, why then it would only be polite of him to oblige and tell him of a secret passage to Hogsmeade.

Sirius let it slip one day during DADA when the class was practicing dueling. The noise of the practical lesson made it easy for him to make a side comment to Peter, who was completely clueless anyway, but loud enough for Severus to overhear. The trap was set, that would get Snape back for, well for existing and being a git and following them around spying on them.

/

Severus lay awake in his bed, he could hear Slughorn make his nightly rounds making sure all the Slytherins were safely tucked away in their dorms. The door to the 6th year boys dorm opened and a faint wand light hovered over each bed. Severus kept his eyes closed until the room darkened again before slipping out of the sheets and slipping into a robe and trainers.

Leaving the castle was never an easy task with teachers making occasional night time rounds, portraits watching if they happened to be awake, ghosts gliding through walls. Tonight however, Severus didn't come across any such hindrances as he slipped out the main doors and hid in the shadow of the castle waiting for the Mauraders to come out.

The wait was short, less than a quarter of an hour later the four Gryffindors came out, they were surprisingly noisy for being out of the castle after curfew. Severus followed at a distance staying in the shadows as much as he could. The whomping willow lay ahead, it seemed like an odd place to go to but then the tree froze and all four boys disappeared at its base. Severus ran ahead and quickly followed just before the tree came back to life.

"Lumos." he whispered and his wand cast a faint glow. Severus realized they were underground, a long tunnel lay before him. Following along what was little more than a burrow Severus walked for a very long time before he heard sounds ahead.

There was a door up ahead and the voices of Remus and Sirius could be heard, Severus rushed forward and opened the door.

There stood Remus Lupin, almost completely naked except for his shorts. The Gryffindor turned towards the sound of the door, his green eyes landing on Severus briefly before turning yellow, his face distorted followed immediately by his body into a fully fledged adolescent werewolf. Severus stood frozen in place by fear and shock. The wolf bared its teeth snarling before lunging right for Severus's throat.

/

There was a twig poking him in the back. Severus groaned and opened his eyes. His head throbbed as he had clearly hit it when he fell or was pushed (he wasn't exactly sure how he ended up on the ground). Potter was laying on top of him.

"What the bloody hell, Snape." James grunted as he rolled off of Severus. "You were following us!"

Severus winced as he sat up in the dark tunnel he looked at the door that was closed and barred shut "What happened?" he asked rubbing his head.

"You poked your big ugly nose where it doesn't belong." snapped Potter "Lets go." he ordered standing up.

Severus scowled but there was no point in staying where they were so he followed James back towards the entrance.

"So, Lupin's a werewolf?" Severus asked rhetorically after some minutes of walking.

James turned and faced him "Yes, why were you following us?"

Severus shrugged "To see what you were up to."

"Can't you just mind your own business for once?" James retorted, annoyed "You're lucky I got to you first or he would have killed you."

Severus paled realizing James was right but didn't say anything.

"Just don't tell anyone ok? Please? You can't."

"Does Dumbledore know?"

"Of course he does." James responded with a huff as he climbed out.

"I plan on speaking with him."

"I'm sure that can be arranged, Mr. Snape." McGonagall piped in. Severus exchanged a worried glance with James. McGonagall looked the boys over "Infirmary first I think. If you'll both follow me." she ordered. Severus lifted his hand to wipe his brow and felt the warm sticky blood from where he had hit his head.

/

Harry loved the feel of the wind in his hair. The swings were by far his favorite thing to play on at the playground, now that (this time around) he was actually able to play on it without the threat of Dudley beating the stuffing out of him. His next favorite thing to do was to get as high as possible and then jump off. It was as close to flying on his broom that he could get and so he pumped his legs a final time and pushed himself off flying through the air. Harry always tried to see how far he could go before landing and this time he was pleased with the distance.

"Harry Snape!" a shrill woman yelled across the playground.

Harry winced and turned and faced the woman storming towards him "Yes, Ms. Freeman?" he said as innocently as possible.

"Don't you try that on me, young man. You've been told not to jump off the swings like that. If I catch you again you'll go see Ms. Dursley." she scolded him and pointed to the time out wall. Harry sighed and walked over to the wall with all the other playground delinquents that day. He crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall to sulk while the recess monitor made her rounds towards the far side of the playground.

"Lemme go." a voice of a younger child called out.

"Just give us the money and you can go." a second child's voice answered harshly.

"I don't have any." the first voice responded.

"That's going to be a problem for you then."

Harry didn't hear anything for a moment and then what sounded like a gasp for air. He glanced across the playground where the monitor was scolding some children for some petty rule breaking. Following the sounds Harry turned the corner to see an older boy of about 10 punching a much smaller child. Ms. Freeman was still on the far side of the play area and even his yells wouldn't reach her over all the other children screaming.

"Don't touch him." Harry jumped in and pulled the older boy off the smaller one. The little boys eyes grew wide with fear as he watched the bully round on Harry who stood his ground. Knowing this would not end well, the smaller boy ran to get help.

"What did you say to me?" the larger boy threatened as he looked down at the much smaller Harry. Harry felt like he might be sick but stood firm.

"Leave the kid alone."

"Or what?" the boy responded along with a punch the gut. Harry doubled over slightly but wasn't hurt enough not to fight back using his dropped shoulder to push into the boy knocking him over. Before he realized what happened Harry and the other boy were rolling around the ground. It was only a few minutes before Ms. Freeman pulled the boys apart and marched them inside to the Headmistress's office. The little boy scampering behind trying to tell the woman that Harry had been helping him. The recess monitor didn't seem to think that was reason enough to end up in a brawl on the playground though. And so, Harry had his first meeting with Headmistress Dursley.

/

Harry slowly made his way up the steps to the front door. His arse hurt from 'Aunt Marge' (old habits really do die hard) who despite being told by little William that Harry was defending him stood firmly by her 'No fighting' policy and have given Harry 3 licks with her strap. Better than the 5 other other boy had gotten for starting it and being, apparently, a repeat offender. He promised himself that he wouldn't make visiting the office a repeat experience. Harry grimaced and then took a breath, he really hoped Tobias wouldn't notice anything wrong. Most of the kids at school, who at least started to talk to him now, said their parents had a 'get it at school, get it home' philosophy. Harry wasn't sure where Tobias stood on that front, but he didn't feel like finding out either. Pushing the door open Harry schooled his face as if he had a reasonably decent day at school.

"Oh good, Harry, glad your back." Tobias called from the kitchen as he saw Harry come in. The boy entered the back room confused by the man's distracted behavior.

Harry gasped as he entered the kitchen entirely and saw none other that Petunia Evans sitting at the counter with a mug of tea.

"What's SHE doing here?" Harry demanded.

Petunia made a face at Harry while Tobias looked at him warningly.

"I've got to go out for a few hours, don't know how long I'll be so I've asked Petunia to stay till I get back."  
"I can stay on my own." Harry insisted.

Tobias shook his head "If it was an hour or two, sure, but I might not be back till morning. You WILL behave." his voice warned, Harry glanced at a smug looking Petunia and then back to Tobias's stern expression. Harry didn't feel like being especially cooperative and crossed his arms "I will if she does." Tobias raised his eyebrow at Harry "Fiiiinnee." the boy retorted with all the attitude he dared at that moment. "Where are you going?"

"Hogwarts, your brother had a bit of an issue last night. Dumbledore asked me to come up, my portkey leaves in," he glanced at his watch "few more seconds. Be good." he told Harry and kissed the top of his head before straightening up and *pop* disappeared with the portkey Dumbledore had sent him.

Harry looked at Petunia nervously. The woman had been horrible to him in his other lifetime, but how would she be now? Harry decided to ignore her and get a snack.

"You think your special don't you?" she said bitterly "A freak just like my sister." Petunia stood from her seat and advanced towards Harry, he instinctively took a step back "You don't even have parents, do you even know where you come from?" the maliciousness in her voice made Harry freeze, was it possible for this Petunia to be even worse than the one he knew but in this world she wasn't his aunt, he didn't live with her, and he did have a parent, sort of. It was enough to give him a little more confidence when he asked "Petunia, why do you always have to be such a bitch?"

If it was possible for a face to explode from fury, Petunia's was reaching that level she grabbed Harry's arm with her strong bony fingers and led him to the living room "You're to keep quiet." she told him as she opened the cupboard door.

Harry started fighting in ernst now "No! No. I'll be good, don't! I'm sorry, Aunt Petunia." he cried out. Petunia gave him a funny look at that then shoved him in the cupboard and shut the door.

Harry pounded on the door and screamed and cried for a while but Petunia ignored him. Harry slid to the floor and lay on his side as sitting still hurt. Several hours later Petunia opened the door and told Harry to go to bed.

/

Tobias looked around the area, he had 'landed' on an abandoned train platform, there was a dirt path but it looked like it just led into a moor. If he looked the other way he could see in the not to far distance a run down ruin with barricades around it warning that the area was unsafe. Not exactly what he had been expecting. He waited for about two minutes before the sounds of a carriage approaching could be heard, another minute or two a familiar face appeared. Hagrid the man-giant came into sight sitting in the driver's seat of a carriage with nothing pulling it Although he held reins as if steering.

"Hello there Mr. Snape. Professor Dumbledore sent me to pick you up." Hagrid said in his jolly voice and leaned down to help Tobias climb aboard. The men spoke briefly for a few minutes until Tobias realized that they were headed right towards a ravine, he tried to get Hagrids attention but the large man just kept talking away not even noticing his distress. As they reached the edge of the precipice and Tobias was sure they would fall, he was shocked when they continued on and a bridge appeared leading to the largest castle he had ever seen. He sat, mouth agape, as they drove to the main doors. A tall stern looking woman with green robes and black hair greeted them.

"Mr. Snape, good of you to come. I am Professor Minerva Mcgonagall. Professor Dumbledore is expecting you, please follow me." Tobias could do nothing more than nod his agreement as he followed her into the castle, unable to speak from awe. There was a huge hall with long tables full of students working on their studies. He was absolutely sure he saw some of the pictures moving. A couple of ghosts floated past him and then they came to a gargoyle statue

"Banana Taffy" Mcgonagall stated and the stone creature stepped aside revealing a staircase. The woman indicated that he should go up and that she would not be following.

/

Severus was absolutely terrified. Professor Dumbledore had never asked his father to come to Hogwarts before. Notes home, yes, several times in fact. He had met with Dumbledore this morning to explain what happened. Now he sat nervously in the large oval office as the old wizard offered him various types of candy. Under different circumstances he might have accepted but not when his stomach was a gigantic knot. A knock on the door and with a wave of his hand Dumbledore opened the door and pulled up a cushy armchair for Tobias who squeezed Severus shoulder reassuringly before sitting down.

After the initial greetings Dumbledore explained to Tobias what had happened, his face paled at the thought of how close his son had come to being bitten by a werewolf. He further explained that he would ask that this incident not be made public because of the danger to Remus if it got out.

"He could have killed me!" Severus interrupted "And Sirius knew that."

"Yes." said Dumbledore frowning "and not only were you out after curfew but left Hogwarts grounds as well. If you had not the incident would not have happened either." Severus opened his mouth to argue but Dumbledore held up an old wrinkled hand "considering the severity I believe a months worth of Saturday morning detentions and missing the Hogsmeade outing this month is fair."

"Oh sure that's fair, and Potter and Black get off.. Again." Severus couldn't help but snap angrily.

Dumbledore narrowed his eyes at him. "I do not discuss the punishments of other students, however I will say that Mr. Potter Sr. was here earlier today as was Mrs. Black and I am certain neither of them feels they were overlooked with their consequences. I was able to deal with them this morning because both their homes have floo connections and bringing a muggle to Hogwarts takes a bit of paperwork."

Severus blushed under the scolding from the headmaster and displeased look his father gave him. "Dismissed, Mr. Snape." Dumbledore said harshly.

Severus stood and gave his dad a pitiful look before heading out.

"Tobias," Dumbledore spoke again "I asked you here for another reason as well. Severus's little adventure merely gave me a plausible reason to ask the Ministry to grant access for you. Quite convenient of him actually." The old man's eyes twinkled in amusement and Tobias couldn't help but chuckle. "We, the wizarding world that is, need your help. Have you heard of the dark wizard Lord Voldemort?"


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: to the guest wondering about Tobias being able to see Hogwarts: he could only because he had been invited by Dumbledore to come and was with Hagrid. He surely would have turned back when he got to the cliff.**

 **Thank you for all of you that took a moment to leave me a comment. You all are fantastic, honestly couldn't have asked for a kinder group of readers. So here is chapter 18. Enjoy and leave some feedback!**

 **Saturday October 9, 1976**

Tobias rubbed his face and yawned as he fiddled with the keys to open the door. It was past 2 in the morning and after spending the last several hours speaking with Professor Dumbledore at Hogwarts he was ready to fall into bed. Petunia lay on the sofa sound asleep, he gently shook her shoulder till she woke and with a bit of embarrassment sat up. Fishing out his wallet he handed her some bills and asked how Harry had been.

With a yawn she answered that he was fine and dug for her car keys in her purse. Tobias was glad he didn't have to drive her home at least. He climbed up the narrow stairs, thankful that these would be the last stairs he had to climb today, and checked on Harry. The little boy was laying sprawled out across the bed on his stomach, his face looked distressed as if upset, but he wasn't thrashing or crying out so Tobias simply pulled up the blanket and brushed the hair off his face before turning in for the night.

/

The house in the country stood alone, its inhabitants, a family of 5 slept soundly when a little pop could be heard outside. A second and third followed and shortly after dozens more as wizards and a few witches all dressed in black robes, their faces covered, encircled the home.  
"Well, go have some fun." One said gesturing to the home and the others rushed into the house. Screams and yells could be heard a moment later as the the little family was rudely awakened and cruelly tortured for hours before eventually being killed. The house was set ablaze and a sickening green emblem of a skull with a snake appeared in the sky. Popping sounds occured as those in black disappeared into the night once more leaving the home engulfed in fire and muggle authorities baffled.

/

"Harry! Harry! Wake up!" Tobias shook the small boy who was thrashing about his bed screaming and holding his forehead. Tobias had been trying unsuccessfully to wake Harry up for the last hour but the boy wouldn't wake and was trapped in whatever torturous dream he was in. Suddenly his body stiffened his eyes flew open and he took a large gasp before leaning over the edge of his bed and vomiting into the rubbish bin next to his bed. Tobias rubbed Harry's back, not really sure what else he could do while the boy clung to him crying.

Tobias was very glad today was Saturday, he had gotten only a couple hours of sleep before Harry's screams woke him up.

"They… they,.. Killed them. Even the baby." Harry sobbed holding onto Tobias for dear life.

"Who did?" Tobias asked with concern.

"The bad people." Harry choked out.

"It was just a dream." Tobias said unconvincingly, "do you think you can go back to sleep now?"

"Can I come sleep with you?" Harry whispered. Tobias nodded and lifted up the boy who hissed softly when picked up but as soon as he was laid down snuggled up close into Tobias's side and fell asleep.

Tobias couldn't help but mull over the conversation he had had with Dumbledore. Despite his exhaustion, being woken by Harry, who now was a little furnace nestled into his side, he couldn't get back to sleep. There was some evil wizard named Lord Voldemort, _What a ridiculous name,_ he thought, that hated non magical people and something called half-bloods and muggle borns. His head swam with all kinds of new terms and this brand new fear that he was powerless to do anything about.

Dumbledore had asked him to keep a watchful eye out for any unusual activity, and also recruit trusted friends to do the same around the country. It was suspected that followers of Lord Voldemort often staked out a potential target before a strike, and as most of them were "pure blood" (whatever that means) they usually had no muggle fashion sense at all and could be easily spotted. Tobias didn't doubt the authenticity of this statement given the garish wardrobe Dumbledore always wore. The biggest issue lay in the fact that most muggles had no idea there was a threat as the Ministry of Magic kept all knowledge of the magical world securely hidden. When a muggle noticed something unusual they would end up forgetting and not reporting it, and of course had no idea who to report to in the first place.

/

Harry groaned and rolled over, the bed didn't feel right but it was strangely comfortable and he didn't want to get up. Eventually he cracked open an eye and then they flew open realizing he wasn't in his bed. He looked around confused, he went to sleep in his own room he remembered that much. When he remembered asking to sleep there Harry couldn't help feel a little embarrassed, 16 and wanting to sleep in Tobias's room like a little kid. Of course, he also _was_ a little kid, it was all so confusing and he was still too sleepy to think about it very much. It was the first time he'd ever been in Tobias's room, the walls were dark wood panel and orange and tans accented the room. It was distinctly masculine feeling and fairly dark except for the sunlight coming in. Harry slowly sat up then winced. His bum hurt badly. There was a full length mirror in the corner, Harry slowly pulled his pajama bottoms down and inspected the damage, one bruise which wasn't really as big as it felt. He was going to have to do a better job of keeping his head down at school and not get sent back to 'Aunt Marge's' office, he was sure that he had gotten off fairly lightly all things considered. His stomach growled loudly and Harry remembered he hadn't eaten since lunch yesterday and headed down to the kitchen following the smell of eggs and bacon.

"Good morning, Harry." Tobias greeted the boy with a smile "Eggs?"

Harry nodded as he took his seat. Tobias put down his paper and went to make a plate up for the boy. Curiously Harry picked up the abandoned paper.

"Since when do you read _The Prophet_?" Harry asked noticing the moving pictures.

"Since today. I'm helping Professor Dumbledore out with a little project of his and he thought keeping abreast with the wizarding world news would be helpful so he put in a subscription for me." Tobias supplied. "You might like this page." Tobias handed Harry a page with comics on it. The entire page was designed for kids, comics, trivia, ads for children's toys and gags, and a coloring contest where the grand prize was two Sickles. In all the years that Hermione had gotten _The Prophet_ he had never once noticed a children's page. He read the comic strip while shoving eggs in his mouth as quickly as possible.

"Harry, chew." Tobias admonished him.

"Sorry," Harry said, his mouth still full of eggs, Tobias gave him a disbelieving look and Harry quickly swallowed with an impish grin. Tobias shook his head and went back to his section of the paper, when he opened it up Harry saw the front picture. A black and white photo of a house ablaze with the dark mark lighting the night sky, Harry couldn't remember his nightmare from last night or his brief conversation with Tobias, but this house looked familiar to him although he couldn't quite figure out why.

"What are you helping Dumbledore with?"

" _Professor_ Dumbledore. And you don't need to worry about it. Dull grown up things." Tobias evaded. Harry frowned but knew that Tobias wouldn't give up answers unless he wanted to. He pulled out his crayons to color in the picture.

"Can I send this in when I'm done? I could win two Sickles!"

Tobias ruffled Harry's hair and agreed.

/

"Harry, I need to talk to you for a minute." Tobias said coming into the living room, Harry looked up from his playing. "I told you I'm helping Professor Dumbledore with a special project. Well part of that means I'm going to have to do some work on weekends sometimes or in the evening. I don't want you spending all that time alone so I need to find you a sitter..."

"Not Petunia!" Harry interrupted.

Tobias's eyebrows shot up in surprise at not only the interruption but how adamate Harry was against Petunia "What's wrong with Petunia?"

"She's... not nice." was all Harry was willing to say, he was fairly certain Tobias would not like it if he found out about being tossed in the cupboard, but he was also certain he would not be pleased if Petunia told him about what he had called her either.

Tobias studied the boy for a moment, he could tell there was a bit more to it than that, but if Harry was that uncomfortable with her as a sitter he had time to find someone else, it wasn't a last minute situation as yesterday had been. He nodded "What about Mrs. Evans? You like her."

Harry smiled, "Yeah, that'd be great!" He would happily spend time with his (unknown to her) grandmother.

/

The buzzing would not stop and Severus swiped his hand in the direction the sound came from but it only grew more persistent as he buried his head under the pillows willing it to go away.

"Time to get up. Time to get up." it continued buzzing.

"Severus! GET UP, we're trying to sleep here!" Evan shouted angrily. Severus glared at him but got up and the noise disappeared. The other 6th year Slytherin boys that had been woken by the alarm rolled over to get more sleep. Severus sighed and got ready for his day, consisting of breakfast, saturday morning detention from 8 to noon, and then likely homework and study.

He made his way up to the great hall for breakfast. It was still early and most students were still asleep. He filled his plate with fruit and sausages, toast and a bowl of porridge as he looked around the hall. The largest group of students awake were the first years, it was always the first years, Severus smiled to himself as he watched the excitable 11 year olds that reminded him of Harry, who was always up with the sun. There were 2 second year Hufflepuffs sleepily shoveling eggs into their mouths. A lone 5th year Ravenclaw with her nose in a book and James Potter at the Gryffindor table looking as exhausted as Severus did.

Severus made a face realizing that Potter likely had the same Saturday morning detention that he did. James looked up and locked eyes with Severus. Severus decided that _The Daily Prophet_ abandoned at the table would be preferable to look at and pulled it closer to read while he worked on his meal.

The headline story was about an attack on a muggle family last night in the countryside. 5 dead, 3 of which were children. Severus stomach flipped as he read about it thinking of his dad and Harry, basically defenseless against the magical community. Even the shotgun his father kept in the closet wouldn't protect them. The dark mark illuminating the sky above the home told Severus all he needed to know about who was behind the attack.

"Rumor has it a muggle was at Hogwarts last night."

Severus was pulled out of his thoughts and looked up to see Lily had come to sit down at the Slytherin table. Severus grimaced.

"Don't say it."

"Don't say what? 'I told you so?' or 'You're an idiot.?' " Lily asked with amusement as she loaded up a plate.

"All of the above." he grumbled.

"I wonder who stayed with Harry while your dad was here." Lily mused "Hopefully not Petunia, I wouldn't trust her to babysit a goldfish."

Severus chuckled "I don't know, I didn't get to really say much. It was more of a sit there and get told off. So how did Black get out of detention?" he added nodding to the far table where Potter sat alone.

Lily frowned at him "Professor Dumbledore suspended him for 3 days, they sent him home yesterday afternoon, he'll be back Wednesday evening. They were pretty upset with him for putting you and Remus in danger."

"Remus? How.."

"If that got out he'd be dead." Lily whispered.

"You knew?" Severus said surprised.

Lily only nodded "Anyway, I think James got the same as you."

"Oh joy." Severus grumbled sarcastically. "I should go."

/

Lily, as usual, was correct that James had the same detention schedule as Severus as they found themselves in the kitchens with the head house elf telling them to unload and put away the carriages filled with groceries and other supplies. The two teens looked at the hundreds of crates of food and the hours of hard labor ahead of them unloading it all. Working at the store over the summer Severus had built up a bit of endurance for stock but even this was beyond his normal limits and James who had never been made to lift a finger at home complained after the first few minutes and sat down to rest shortly after. Severus rolled his eyes and continued working, it wasn't long before a house elf gave James a little motivation to continue in the form of a light stinging hex.

Severus tried to hide his smirk.

"How are you able to keep going?" James questioned as he leaned on a stack of crates trying to catch his breath after verifying that the pesky house elf was out of sight.

"I work as a stock boy at our grocery store over the summer." Severus shrugged as he carefully unloaded trays of eggs.

"You worked?" James seemed completely baffled by the idea "What for?"  
"Usually people work for money." Severus responded dryly.

"But why do you need money? Don't your parents give you spending money?"

"No."

James looked dumbfounded.

Severus turned to face him "Not all of our parents have extra money to give away for trivial things. He gets me what I need but if I want something extra I have to get the money myself."

James looked absolutely horrified

"Spare me your pity." Severus snapped and went back to work ignoring James for the rest of the day.


	18. Chapter 18

Green eyes peered over the edge of the counter. _The enemy has its sights elsewhere_ thought Harry. The plate of biscuits sat temptingly in the middle inviting small hands to reach out for them. Harry snatched up a biscuit as quickly as he could.

"Harry Snape! I saw that." Mrs. Evans said giving him a knowing look. Harry slouched, defeated again. "Put it back. You've had what three… no four biscuits already. You'll spoil your dinner." Harry made no move to replace the biscuit "Back! Now, Harry." Mrs. Evans said slightly firmer. Harry pouted and grudgingly put it back. "Did you finish your homework?"

"Most of it."

"What have you been doing all day? You don't have that much. Go get it and sit at the table. I'm not going to be returning you with it not done. Your father won't like that." Mrs. Evans ordered before turning back to chopping "And NO biscuits." she added. Harry pulled back his hand. He swore that woman had eyes in the back of her head. He scowled and grabbed his bag and pulled out some homework. Multiplication by 9s. Harry just couldn't seem to get some of the larger numbers right and in frustration gently pounded his head on the table. Mrs. Evans didn't bother to look up "Harry, please just do your work." the boy huffed and leaned his head on his hand and stared at the problems.

Mr. Evans came in from the garage a short while later. "Brr starting to get cold outside, winter's coming." he said as he came up to his wife from behind and gave her a hug "Smells great, Rose." he grabbed a biscuit from the plate and handed it to Harry "Have one, Harry."

Harry grinned, took the biscuit and shoved the whole thing in his mouth as Mrs. Evans turned around "Charles Evans!" the woman rounded on her husband "He's already had enough. If he doesn't eat his dinner you'll both be in trouble!" she threatened giving both a glare.

"Yes, dear." Mr. Evans replied dutifully; Harry nodded as he chewed his biscuit.

"Where's Tuney?" he asked his wife.

"With that Vernon fellow." Mrs. Evans responded. Harry made a face and Mr. Evans looked at him with some amusement "I take it you don't like him either?"

Harry just shook his head and looked back to his work.

"What's this your working on?"

"My 9s times table. But I'm rubbish at it." Harry answered as he slouched down.

Mr. Evans looked over the page "Do you know the finger trick? No? Well it goes like this…. "

/

Tobias looked at the messy head of hair poking out of the blanket on his bed, the place the little boy usually ended up sleeping these days. It had been an exhausting few weeks for both himself and Harry. Harry spent most Saturdays at the Evan's home now while Tobias visited friends around the country trying to explain the unusual situation and round up help. Ms. Durham had also asked for Harry to join the choir, the boy hated it, Tobias knew that, but it gave him two nights a week he could get work done and not have to worry about leaving Harry alone or finding a sitter. He refused to rely too heavily on Mrs. Evans no matter how much she said she adored Harry. And even as it was there was the occasional evening that he had to go to Hogwarts to meet with Dumbledore and leave Harry alone for a couple hours.

He was exhausted and missed spending time with Harry and he was sure Harry felt the same.

Nightmares were something Harry always had since coming to live with them, but the last few weeks they had somehow shifted to something different than typical. Tobias considered them as he thought about the last few weeks. The first time had been terrifying, unable to wake the boy, and once he woke he spoke of horrible things before falling back to sleep and not remembering any of it in the morning. Since then they had increased in frequency and intensity, Harry never remembered them the next morning, but sometimes had a few words to say when he woke before falling back to sleep.

Tobias knew they would pass on their own and there was little he could do but the lack of quality sleep was affecting them both. Mr. Harris had actually called him yesterday complaining about Harry's behavior which had taken a nosedive. He was apparently moody and angered easily at times and others unable to pay attention. Tobias knew the lack of sleep and missing him were probably huge factors in the change of the normally well behaved boy. Still he worried, Mr. Harris told Tobias that any more behavior issues would result in a trip to the Headmistresses office. The man ran his well calloused hand through the thick dark messy hair, carefully pushing it out of the boys face. He didn't know what to do, Harry was so very different than Severus.

/

Severus sat in the library reading some Transfiguration books trying to figure out Conjuration, it wasn't going well and he much prefered the precision and subtly of potions. He leaned his head on his hand as he flipped through the pages, not really paying much attention to them. He'd been up here for hours and still barely had gotten a start on the essay.

"There you are!" Lily said loudly. Severus winced as Madam Pince shot them both a nasty glare. "Sorry" Lily mouthed at the witch and motioned to zip her lips as she sat down across from Severus. "I've been looking for you all day." Lily whispered.

"And here I am."

Lily rolled her eyes "Are you going to Hogmeade tomorrow?"

"Can't. 'Grounded'" Severus said making air quotes with his fingers. Lily gave him a quizzical look "It's part of the punishment. As if four hours every Saturday with Potter wasn't enough."

Lily frowned at the comment about Potter.

"I can go in December though." Severus quickly added.

"How'd detention go?" Lily asked sympathetically.

"Brutal, my fingers are still wrinkled." Severus held up a hand and sure enough the tips of his long fingers still held the marks of someone who's hands had been submerged in water for too long. "Four hours of dishes. And can you believe Potter didn't even know how to wash one? Didn't have a clue."

Lily thought about it for a minute "Yeah, I think he's mentioned that they have a house elf."

"Spoiled git."

"Sev! Stop it. He can't help it that his parents have money any more than you can help that you don't."

Severus's face turned a dark shade of red as he shot Lily an angry glare.

"I'm sorry, Sev. That came out wrong."

Severus didn't respond and instead turned back to his essay. Lily wracked her brain trying to figure out what to say next without further upsetting her friend. She glanced at the paper. "Is that McGonagall's essay? You've barely started, it's due Monday."

"I'm aware." said Severus in frustration "I just don't get it." he tossed his quill down angrily, ink splattering the parchment and ran his hands threw his hair.

"You know, James is really good at transfiguration, you could…."

"Potter? You can't be serious."

"It was just a thought… I'll see you around." Lily said as she got up to leave Severus staring at his now ink stained essay. He huffed and slouched back in his seat.

/

Sunday afternoon left Severus sitting alone at the Slytherin table, except the first and second years that were too young to go to Hogsmeade. Looking around the great hall it was obvious the castle residents were taking advantage of the mild November weather and had gone to Hogsmeade, James Potter sat alone at the Gryffindor table and two fourth year Ravenclaws sat at theirs. Of the teachers only Professor Kettleburn had stayed behind. Severus still hadn't made much progress on his Transfiguration essay and he knew that not turning it in would only leave him with one more detention.

There was nothing for it, he needed help and there was only one person at the moment that could possibly help. Gathering up his bag he approached the Gryffindor table.

James looked up, his mouth full of mashed potatoes, "Can I help you?" he asked. Severus grimaced but decided this wasn't the best moment comment on the lack of table manners.

"Lily mentioned you were good with Transfiguration, and I was having some trouble with the essay…" Severus stopped when James gave him a self satisfied smirk "Nevermind." he finished and began to walk away.

James swallowed quickly "Snape! Wait."

Severus turned around and waited for James to say something.

"Is it really that hard for you to ask for help?"

Severus shifted uncomfortably and avoided eye contact _Just from some people._ He thought.

"Ok I'll help, but I need something from you."

"What?"

"Maybe you could convince Lily to give me a chance.." James trailed off at the look on Severus's face.

"Lily makes her own decisions." Severus snapped as he turned to leave, so much for help with Transfiguration.

To his surprise however Potter called after him "Library at 2, bring your outline."

/

*thump*

Harry put his head in his hands, his scar was prickling again. It had been doing this more often lately and it always gave him a headache. On top of that he was absolutely exhausted, he'd had nightmares three times this week already.

*thump*

He didn't remember anything about them and only knew he had had them because he would wake up in Tobias's bed exhausted.

Mr. Harris was going on and on about something. Harry couldn't even focus enough to figure it out. All he could think about was how much his head hurt.

*thump*

His eyes watered as his scar seared for a moment before receding to a mild prickling sensation. It wasn't quite the same as it had been in his old time line when he was 15 and could really sense Voldemort. This was just pain, at least when he was conscious.

*thump*

He hadn't mentioned the headaches to Tobias yet. He didn't want to sound like he was complaining, especially knowing how busy Tobias was lately and that the man was just as exhausted as he was because of his nightmares.

*thump*

The kid behind him kept kicking his seat. It wasn't helping him concentrate and it certainly wasn't helping his headache. Harry ground his teeth as he tried to focus on what Mr. Harris was talking about but his nerves were shot.

*thump*

Harry spun around in his seat "Will you bloody well knock it off!" he said, his voice raised louder than it should have been. A lot louder almost a yell. The kid stared a back at him, shocked. Harry noticed the room had gotten silent and slowly turned forward. Mr. Harris was standing in front of his desk looking as menacing as Professor Snape did before assigning a particularly unpleasant detention.

"I'm sorry." Harry quickly whispered then yelped as Mr. Harris yanked him out of his seat by his upper arm. "I'm sorry." Harry tried again as he struggled in the man's grip. Harry knew Mr. Harris had told Tobias that any further issues would result in him visiting 'Aunt Marge' and he was desperate for that not to happen and doing the only thing he could think of at the moment, started to cry. Instead of being led to the Headmistresses office Harry found himself being taken to the nurses office and told to lay down on a cot.

"You need to calm down. I'm going to go call your father." Mr. Harris whispered in his ear. Harry gave a slight nod, he just wanted to go home. Exhaustion overtook the boy within a few minutes and he slept soundly until Tobias came to collect him a while later.

 **The next chapter is actually the Christmas chapter I had previously posted as ch 15. I will be moving that chapter to follow this one so that the story reads** **sequentially. So please do not be alarmed** **when you see a chapter you've already read.**

 **As always thank you for your support. I love the feedback so keep it coming. If you're unable to post for this chapter because you already made a comment on the old chapter 18, feel free to leave your comment for this chapter on chapter 19 (which was the old chapter 15).**


	19. Chapter 19 - the old Ch 15

**Thank you again for all your comments. And big apologies for any confusion as I was fixing the chapter order.**

 **This chapter was originally posted as CH 15. I posted it early for Christmas, because its my story and I wanted to. Now that I've got my timeline up and posted to where this chapter fits in I have decided to move it to its new spot on the time line. Hopefully this doesn't throw anyone through a loop but there you have it.**

 **And a big thank you to Chrissysmiles for helping me with a couple ideas in this chapter.**

 **To the one reader hiding behind anonymity that clearly spends far too much time worried about grammar, why are you still reading if it bothers you so much?**

 **Ch 18 is a new chapter, in case you've missed it. Sorry for the confusion.**

Harry hummed a Christmas tune while he colored a Christmas card for Tobias. This was the first year he'd ever been excited for Christmas. He wasn't even wanting anything in particular but for once he had been allowed to participate in the festivities.

Mrs. Evans had invited him over on one Saturday to help bake and decorate christmas biscuits. The Dursleys had never let him even have a Christmas biscuit let alone help make them. Sure he was forced to cook them all sorts of meals, but the one fun thing he could only experience from inside his dark cupboard while gingerbread and other holiday smells would waft in making his mouth water and that he was never allowed to taste.

He loved spending time with the Evan's, except Petunia of course, but she was usually out with some boyfriend. Harry had taken to the couple like a fish to water and could be found there most Saturdays when Tobias was working.

Tobias had even taken him to pick out a tree and Harry even got to decorate it! An other thing Harry had never been allowed to do, he could only really look at the tree through the slats of his cupboard at the Dursleys home.

But what Harry was looking forward to most for Christmas was being able to give presents this year. His first year at primary school his class had painted tile trivets for their families. He had been quite proud of his and had hoped that Aunt Petunia would be a little nicer to him if he gave her a gift at Christmas. It had backfired spectacularly. The woman screeched at him and threw the tile in the rubbish bin and Uncle Vernon had roughly thrust him into his cupboard for the rest of Christmas and Boxing day. Harry had never attempted to give them a gift again. So this year Harry was eager to give the picture frame his class had worked on. He had carefully put in the school photo his teacher had provided and had worked hard to make sure it was perfect before wrapping it carefully.

The gift for Severus was a bit trickier, he had found a rare blood flower in the nearby garden store that he had wanted to get his brother knowing it had many magical properties but there was no way he could afford it so he had worked out a deal with the manager to work for a few hours after school in exchange for the plant.

This had worked out very well at first until Ms. Durham, the sunday school teacher, had told Tobias how angelic Harry's singing voice was and wanted him to join the childrens Christmas choir. Tobias agreed without even considering Harry might not want to participate. Two times outs and one spanking later Harry found himself in the front row at choir practice hating every second of it.

/

"Lily, wait up." Severus panted as he caught up to his friend in the hall.

Lily smiled, "Hi, Sev."

"Are you going to Hogsmeade tomorrow?" Severus asked.

Lily shrugged "Not sure yet."

"Would you go with me?" Severus asked, then added "as friends." when Lily looked at him awkwardly.

"Of course."

The holiday decorations in Hogsmeade were the finest Severus had ever seen. He didn't usually go on the December outing to the little town but this year he had an objective. Find a gift for Harry. He still had some of his earnings from the summer and wanted to have something to give Harry, but he had no idea what, or where to start. Fortunately Lily had a dozen ideas at least.  
"Obviously Honeydukes, he'd love a chocolate frog or some fizzing whizzbees." Lily thought out loud.

"You've never seen Harry on a sugar high, have you? Dad'll kill me."

"Nonsense, it's Christmas. I think we should go to Tomes and Scrolls first though."

"The bookstore? Harry isn't really a big reader."

Lily laughed "You know they have other things besides books right?"  
Severus looked confused but followed Lily into the book store and up to the second floor where to his surprise were all manner of games, toys, even art supplies. After looking around Severus found a coloring book with moving pictures that stayed still while you colored and markers that only colored on paper. If only he'd had these when he was younger it would have saved him a very uncomfortable lesson about not coloring on the walls. Severus paid for the items and he and Lily made their way to Gladrags where Lily found a scarf for Petunia and Severus found some socks for his father that stayed warm and dry even if you walked in a puddle with them. Finally the two 6th years made their way to Honeydukes where Severus bought several items for Harry and a few for his father as well.

/

Harry was carefully watering the rose bushes in the greenhouse, being careful not to over water and mindful of the thorns. He liked taking care of the plants, maybe this time around he'd pay a little more attention to Herbology when he was back at Hogwarts.

"Harry. You'd better run along home now, it's getting late." said Mr. Greggor the manager of the little garden store.

Harry looked up at the clock on the wall, half past 7, he would normally already be home, he quickly went to wash his hands and said goodbye.

"One moment Harry, here you've been such a help these last few weeks, consider this paid off." The man handed Harry the blood flower.

Harry smiled brightly and pulled on his coat and mittens before taking the plant. "Thanks! And Happy Christmas!"

Harry carefully made his way through the dark streets, his stomach flipped nervously, he was supposed to be at choir practice tonight but had skipped, as he had several times, in order to help out at the store. Severus would be back tomorrow and then the day after would be Christmas Eve. He headed towards the back alley and found a place in the shed for the plant, he couldn't keep it in his room because Severus would see it, and nowhere else in the house was practical. He slipped in the back door, took off his shoes and jacket and went to head upstairs.

The lights flicked on and Harry thought his heart might jump through his chest.

"Harry." Tobias deep voice broke the silence in the house. The boy turned to face Tobias sitting in his armchair, his legs were crossed casually and his hands folded. He looked the picture of calmness, but what Harry couldn't see was that the man's hands were folded in order to keep them still from shaking with combined rage and worry.

"Where have you been?"

"It's a choir practice night."

"It is. But where have _you_ been?" Tobias asked again and Harry swallowed nervously, unsure how to answer.

"I… I…" Harry struggled, not wanting to lie but not wanting to tell the truth either.  
Tobias narrowed his eyes "It's not a hard question, Harry. Where were you?"

"Choir practice?"

"Is that your answer or a question?" the tone was dangerous and sent a chill down the boys spine.

Harry didn't respond, the jig was up.

Tobias steepled his hands "You see I stopped by the church today, I thought I could watch the end of practice and then we could go out to that little cafe for dinner but to my surprise you weren't there. I approached Ms. Durham and she told me you missed about half the practices!" This last bit wasn't quite a yell, but it was loud and Harry took a step back.

"You are 8 years old, Harry. When you're told to be somewhere that is where you are to be!"

Harry felt that this was the appropriate place to whisper a "Yes, sir." despite his desire to roll his eyes like the teenager he would have been.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was to find you not where I thought you were, especially after what happened in Diagon Alley this summer?" Harry cringed at the reminder of when he had run off, he'd gotten off surprisingly easy that time.

"You are already in more trouble than you can possibly imagine, little boy. So I ask you one more time, and I had better get an answer, where were you?"

Harry swallowed thickly "The.. the garden store, sir."

"The garden store?" That was NOT the answer Tobias had expected.

"Yes, sir."

"Every time?"

"Yes, sir."

"Why?"

"They had an item I wanted to get Severus for Christmas, so I asked Mr. Greggor if I could help him around the store in exchange for it, he agreed."

Tobias raised his eyebrows in surprise, at least Harry hadn't been defacing property or something. "And Mr. Greggor didn't think to check with me if this was acceptable?"

"I sort of told him you were alright with it."

"Because you knew I wouldn't be?"

Harry nodded and looked down at his socks, his big toe was almost poking out of the right foot.

"You have 5 minutes to get ready for bed, and then you and I and the slipper are going to have a very long talk."

Harry's head snapped up "No, please, I'm sorry."  
"4 minutes."

Harry ran upstairs and wondered if shoving a towel down his pants to cushion the inevitable would work or not.

/

"Severus is home!" Harry cried out as he looked out the front window. Tobias went out and helped Mr. Evans get the trunk out of the boot.

"Thank you for picking him up."

"Not a problem, Tobias, silly for us both to make the drive up to London this time of year. You'll be taking Lily back in January, correct?"

"Yes. Happy Christmas, say hello to Rose."

Tobias pulled his son into a hug and then dragged the trunk into the house.

Severus had barely walked through the door with a small bundle of energy plowed into him "You're back!" Harry said excitedly "Look we got this beautiful tree! And Christmas biscuits for Father Christmas, although I don't think he'll bother to come, so if he doesn't we can eat them!"

"Hold up a second there, what do you mean he won't come?"

Harry shrugged "He's never come before, and I haven't been that good." Harry absent mindedly rubbed his still very sore backside. Severus raised an eyebrow and glanced quickly to his father who had the expression that told Severus his father agreed with Harry's self assessment. Severus smirked, he was sure whatever the story was, it would be interesting.

/

Christmas Eve spent most of the day in their pajamas watching Christmas movies on the telly before heading to Church for the Christmas Eve service where Harry still was made to be part of the choir despite nasty looks from Ms. Durham for missing yesterday's practice. By the time they arrived back home even the excitement of Christmas couldn't keep Harry awake.

/

Tobias was surprised to be the first awake on Christmas. Most days he was up before the boys, but Christmas is one of those days thats an exception to sleep patterns. He stretched and got up to make the coffee. Glancing at the tree he frowned, there were gifts under the tree he had NOT put there. Coffee first, then try to figure it out, he reasoned and made his cuppa.

The stomping of feet on the stairs alerted Tobias that the boys had woken. Or at least Harry had.

"Whoa!" Harry gasped as he saw the tree. Severus was a few steps behind Harry and stopped at the bottom of the stairs looking from the tree to Tobias with raised questioning eyebrows. Tobias subtly shook his head and shrugged.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Lets see whats in there." Tobias said as he handed hot chocolate to the boys and got comfortable in his armchair.

/

Tobias, being a practical man, had gotten the boys the standard undershirts, shorts, and socks, and new pairs of trainers and school dress shoes and books. Not the most exciting of gifts but they both needed the clothes.

Harry was thrilled with Severus's gift and eagerly showed Tobias all the moving pictures of dragons and hippogriffs. Tobias chuckled at the markers and gave Severus a knowing look remembering his sons artistic expression on the hall wall.

"Wow, Harry, a blood flower, Professor Sprout will be interested in this, it's so healthy too. Where did you get it?"

"Mr. Greggor at the garden store."

"How did you manage to pay for it?"

"I worked it off."

"And dad let you?" Severus asked with surprise.

Harry looked sheepish as he shook his head. Severus glanced at his dad's stormy expression and laughed.

"Who are these other gifts from?" Severus asked.

"Let's find out." Tobias answered just as curious.

The three men were surprised to find new trousers, jeans, jumpers, and button down shirts in their sizes. A monopoly game for Harry, a cassette player and tapes for Severus, and a tan leather bound journal for Tobias.

"Did anyone see a note?" Tobias asked.

Harry stared at him "Father Christmas brought them."

Tobias laughed and Severus just gave him a funny look, who ever it was must have forgotten to add a card or note.

There were a few other gifts from friends such as the Finnegans next door and the Evan's family.

/

Tobias sat on the sofa with Harry curled up on him, the boy was almost asleep after a long day of playing with his new toys, gorging himself on Christmas biscuits, and watching holiday films.  
"Did you have a good Christmas, Harry?" he whispered.

Harry nodded and snuggled in closer "The best, dad." and fell asleep.

 **Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and have a healthy, safe, and happy New Year 2019!**

 **Love,**

 **BlueMoon007**


	20. Chapter 20

**Thank you to everyone that left me some feedback.  
It looks like some of you don't think chapter 19 fits really well in its new spot. When I figure out how to make it flow better I'll see about revising it to work better.  
Again, sorry for any confusion as I moved those chapters around, messy business but it didn't make sense to go from August to Christmas to September 1.  
**

 **Enjoy!**

 **December 26, 1976**

Harry puffed his cheeks out and made little chugging noises as he pushed a car around the bed room. He was supposed to be resting. The nightmares and headaches had calmed down at the start of the holidays but Christmas evening had come back full force. After lunch Tobias had 'suggested' Harry go rest for a bit, rather than arguing about it Harry agreed, and having no intention of actually napping, Harry pulled out some cars to play quietly. The little cars zoomed around the floor, every once in a while Harry could feel a little spark of his magic push the car along without him physically having to move it. This, he decided, was great fun and focused on the feeling to try and control it a bit more. He didn't remember having any control over his magic the first time he was 8. Odd things would happen; he'd be punished and left crying and confused in his cupboard. It was different now, of course, knowing everything he knew. It still frustrated him how much he had forgotten, the memories were all still there, dulled slightly by time, but the spells and how to do anything felt just beyond his reach. And just like with muggle school he knew he would struggle to relearn everything at Hogwarts as well.

The little car Harry had been focused on pushing around took off on its own when Harry's mind had wandered off.

"Damn." whispered Harry as he watched the car roll all the way under Severus's bed to the wall and stop. Harry pressed his cheek to the floor and reached as far as he could under the bed but his arms were not nearly long enough. Realizing that he was small enough to slide under the bed entirely he pushed his way under towards the back corner where his car had rolled.

When the car was safely back in Harry's grasp he noticed the edge of a magazine poking out from where the mattress was against the wall. Curiosity getting the better of him Harry pulled it out.

"Wow." he whispered, on the cover in large letters read "The Wonton Wizard" with a busty looking red head waving seductively at him.

Harry flipped open the magazine and his mouth dropped open. His last summer with the Dursleys, when Harry had turned 15, while cleaning out the garage Harry had stumbled upon a few similar magazines, those photos were doctored up and edited to perfection. These photos were not nearly as glamorous, but they moved! Harry lay under the bed staring as he slowly flipped through the pages of naked witches smiling at him. He thought back to the magazines that had turned out to be Dudleys. Aunt Petunia had found them a few weeks later and of course blamed Harry, chasing him around the kitchen with a wooden spoon while he denied owning them. At the time Harry wasn't sure if they were Dudleys or Uncle Vernon's but when Aunt Petunia brought up the subject at dinner that night the split second nervous look on Dudleys face before he realized Harry was being blamed clued Harry in. Obviously Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't notice and if they had wouldn't have cared. Harry had again tried to deny procuring them before Uncle Vernon dragged Harry upstairs for a sound thrashing. He cringed remembering how much it had hurt although the distant memory did little to deter him from slowly turning the pages of this magazine.

/

"Darling, would you like some tea?"

"Yes, please." Tobias answered as he turned back to the paper.

A moment later a slender woman with porcelain skin and dark hair and eyes came in with a steaming mug. "Anything interesting?"

Tobias sighed, not in an irritated way, "Not really, more raids, some are close by."

The woman knelt down in front of the armchair so she could look into his eyes. "Be careful, love. He wants the boys."

Tobias furrowed his brows confused "Who does?"

"You know." she said softly.

/

Tobias startled awake as he looked around the darkening living room, it was late afternoon and there was no one in the room with him. His stomach knotted with anxiety. He hadn't dreamt of Eileen in years. She had said "boys".

He shook his head, that was his subconscious playing tricks on him. There was no way she could know Harry had joined the family. Yet the pit in his stomach didn't go away despite his best efforts at logical thinking.

The journal he had gotten for Christmas lay open on his lap along with today's news paper. The entire front page entailed news of the raids that occurred Christmas night. One was in a town just next to Cokeworth. Tobias looked down at the pages, he had thought for sure he had written down some notes about the raid last night when he looked at the blank book. Then again the dream had felt so real that his heart ached slightly at seeing Eileen so unexpectedly in his dream.

The man stood and stretched, his back cracked in more places than he would have liked. It would probably be best to wake Harry up now before it got too late and he wouldn't be tired for bed later in the evening.

Tobias climbed the stairs and opened the boy's bedroom expecting to see Harry in bed. But there was no lump of child under the blankets or tuft of black hair on the pillow.

"Harry?" he asked walking into the room, the window was closed, and locked from the inside so the child had not climbed out the window again, Good thing too or he would be very sorry. Tobias thought.

There was a faint rustling noise under Severus bed. Tobias stooped down to look and found two green eyes looking back at him.

"What are you doing under there?"

Harry slowly pulled himself out from under the bed and held out his hand "My car rolled under."

"You were supposed to be resting, not playing."

Harry had the sense to look slightly guilty "I wasn't tired." he answered a bit sheepishly. Tobias pulled him into a hug, he'd played quietly at least so he wasn't really mad. Then he noticed the corner of a magazine under the bed. Before Harry could do or say anything Tobias picked it up and looked at it, a quick flip through told the man all he needed to know about the contents of this particular publication. Tobias felt his temper rise and willed himself a breath before saying anything further.

"What is this?" he asked after a moment. Harry had seen the angry expression on Tobias's face and had taken several steps back to be out of reach. He shrugged. Not a wise move by any means.

"And I assume you were looking at this while under the bed?"

"Yes, sir." Harry whispered so quietly you couldn't hear it.

"I can't hear you."

"Yes, sir." Harry said, just slightly louder to the floor, unable to meet Tobias's eye.

/

"Lily, I'm telling you it was scary." Severus said gravely. "Dad couldn't even wake him up, it wasn't a normal nightmare." The troubled look on Severus face made Lily nervous.

"He's not reading the papers is he? I mean that would give anyone nightmares, especially a kid."

Severus shook his head, "No, Dad's been pretty careful only to let him have the kids section. He said it's been like this for over a month now. At least a couple a week."

Lily lay back in the snow, her red hair contrasting to the white as she made a snow angel. "I don't suppose there is anything any one can do about it. Maybe your dad should contact Madam Pomfrey though. Him staying up with Harry a few times a week can't be good for him either."

"That's for sure." Severus mumbled "He's way more short tempered than he was in August. He seems stressed."  
"And Harry seems to be a magnet for trouble." Lily added with a chuckle.

Severus smirked "Isn't that the truth! He got me in more trouble last summer than I got into on my own for years combined."

Lily playfully threw some snow at Severus, catching him in the face. He scowled at her before throwing some back. It wasn't long before they were play fighting, covered in snow, and out of breath and cold.

After a while Severus stood up and held his hand out to help Lily up, but instead of pulling herself up, Lily pulled Severus back down. The boy wasn't expecting it and fell over, catching himself before landing completely on Lily. The girl smiled up at him and giggled. Severus could feel himself blush as he melted into her green eyes. Not knowing what to do he awkwardly blurted out "You know, Harry's got the same color eyes as you. Exactly the same."

Lily made no comment to that, she had of course noticed that Harry shared her unique eye color ages ago. She stood up, this time helping Severus up with her and they made their way back to Spinners End for some hot cocoa.

/

Severus opened the door for Lily and followed her into the little house. Upon realizing that his boots had not been as waterproof as he thought, Severus left Lily in the living room to go change his socks. He went up the stairs two at a time and quickly made his way into his room. "Just be a minute, Lil." he called over his shoulder before turning to find his room already occupied. Harry looked petrified, backed up to the wall and clearly wishing it would pull him through it. Tobias on the other hand looked irate. Severus glanced quickly between the two, confused. "Just came up for some fresh socks." he explained and motioned to the dresser hoping his dad would let him get the item and leave again, he didn't know what was going on but by the look on Harry's face he didn't want to be around.

"Perhaps you can enlighten me as to how this filth ended up in our home?" Tobias snarled at his oldest son and throwing 'The Wonton Wizard' onto the bed.

Severus stared at the magazine, wide eyed, he gulped before nervously looking back up into his father's furious eyes. His mouth suddenly felt dry.

"Well?"

"Rodolphus… a boy in my year."

"How could you bring this degrading, objectifying smut into my home? I thought you knew better!" the man spat out. The woman on the cover looked insulted and walked out of the picture in a huff.

"I'm sorry." whispered Severus.

"Yes, I bet you are. Hands on the desk, Severus." Tobias ordered as he began to unbuckle his belt.

Severus paled "No, please. Lily…. She's downstairs, she'll hear." he begged.

Tobias stopped, he was not without a heart and had no intention of humiliating his son.

"Fine, I'll take her home first and then the three of us are having a very long conversation about what is appropriate for boys your age and what is not." Tobias strode out of the room and informed Lily of her unexpected departure.

Harry gave Severus a remorseful look, he hadn't meant to get Severus in trouble. Severus scowled back at Harry, with Harry around he was finding himself in far more trouble than he managed on his own.

"Can't keep your hands off anything can you?" Severus spat out angrily.

"I didn't mean to!" Harry tried to argue but Severus had already shut him out by laying on his bed and facing the wall and completely ignoring Harry. The little boy sighed and sat down on his own bed. He felt slightly ill knowing the fate that awaited him upon Tobias's return. He only hoped that Severus wouldn't stay mad at him for too long.


	21. Chapter 21

**The Baroness - sorry you feel that way. I write what the muse puts into my head and hope that others like it too.**

 **Thank you, everyone, for reading and leaving me comments. It's such motivation for me to keep going, so thank you to every one of you.**

It was two days before Severus would willingly talk to Harry again, two very long days for Harry. The few times the boys did speak usually ended up in an argument with Severus yelling at Harry to stop touching his stuff, as this had been the second time he'd gotten Severus in trouble because he couldn't leave well enough alone. Harry would counter with the fact that if Severus hadn't even had the darn thing none of it would have happened either and that he got in more trouble anyway (first for touching what wasn't his and second for looking through the magazine). Harry thought that because of this Severus needed to just get over it already. Severus was livid with Harry and was determined to make sure Harry knew it. He was also keenly aware how far he could push it before Tobias would tell him to knock it off and was careful not to overstep that line.

By Saturday things were mostly back to normal, Tobias had been invited to a meeting for "The Order". Harry's eyes widened as he recognized the significance of a muggle being invited to attend one of Dumbledore's meetings. Severus, of course, had no idea what any of it was about. Harry begged to be taken along but Tobias was firm in his 'no'. He was just as firm when he told Severus 'absolutely not' when he asked if Lily could come over. Tobias wasn't about to let the two of them alone all day with only 8-year-old Harry as a chaperone.

Severus tried his hand with the usual teenage argument that he would soon be 17 and of age, at least in the wizarding world. The look on his father's face had him backing up and apologizing immediately, apparently Tobias didn't care one bit that his son was almost of age in the wizarding world in a couple of weeks, he was still a minor in the muggle world, and this was, after all, Tobias's house and what he said was law (most of the time).

At the ungodly time of 7 o'clock, the boys found themselves in the wagon driving to the Evan's home. Since Mrs. Evans normally watched Harry on Saturdays it only made sense for Severus to go along so he wouldn't be home alone all day and it gave him a chance to see Lily and her family. Severus had gone right to the kitchen table and put his head down to attempt to get a few more minutes of sleep. Harry, on the other hand, jabbered nonstop to Mrs. Evans all about Christmas, he had even brought Monopoly along to show her and was determined to have everyone play.

After breakfast, Harry managed to cajole Mrs. Evans and Lily into a game and Severus reluctantly went along. Mr. Evans had smirked at Severus before disappearing into the basement while Severus scowled that the man had managed to escape the torture of a long board game with a hyperactive 8-year-old. A couple hours later Mrs. Evans found her escape with the excuse of needing to make lunch leaving Severus, Lily, and Harry with the game.

By the time lunch rolled around even Lily who had significantly more patience than Severus was ready to be done with the game and Harry's whining when it didn't go his way.

/

While Harry was distracted after lunch with some show on the telly, Severus and Lily made their escape to Lily's room. Even the ever patient Lily needed a break. It wasn't very long before Harry noticed their absence and decided to go find the teenagers. The Evan's home was no Malfoy Manor and Harry found them listening to records in Lily's room.

"Out!" Severus shouted as Harry came in.

"No, I want to stay."

"Harry," Lily tried to reason "we played with you all morning. Now we just want to hang out."

Harry stuck his lip out in a pout "Why can't I hang out too?" he asked, hurt to be excluded and remembering how much he enjoyed hanging out with Ron and Hermione. Harry was crushed, he wanted nothing more than to get to know Lily better and here she was not wanting him around. He couldn't think of a single thing that hurt this much aside from perhaps Sirius dying. His eyes began to water but he didn't move.

Severus, oblivious to Harry's feelings, gave his brother a shove out of the room "Go find something else to do and stop being a pest." and closed the door.

Lily gave Severus a disapproving look "That was a bit harsh."

Severus only shrugged, it was easy to say that when it wasn't your brother hanging around all the time.

Harry not expecting the push stumbled back and fell into the far side of the hallway wall. It was the final straw before the tears fell.

"What is going on up there?" Mrs. Evans called coming to the bottom of the stairs. She didn't need a reply to figure it out. "Oh, Harry. Come here," she said gently. The little boy slowly climbed down the stairs, sobbing hard. Mrs. Evans pulled him into a tight hug and held him until his breathing became regular again with only the occasional hiccup.

"It's not fair! They see each other all the time in school and I never get to see either of them." Harry bawled.

"I know sweetie. It's not easy being younger is it?"

Harry wiped the tears off his cheeks and shook his head.

Mrs. Evans looked up the stairs and frowned "Lily Judith Evans, that door better be open!" she yelled. A moment later a little click was heard and the door opened slightly. Satisfied, Mrs. Evans turned back to Harry. "Come help me with dinner, we can even make some biscuits." Mrs. Evans held her hand out for Harry to take and follow, he reluctantly did as he looked longingly back up the stairs where he could hear Severus and Lily laughing.

/

Tobias walked into the small pub in London 'The Leaky Cauldron' he was able to find the hidden away place only because Albus had stationed someone outside the front door to pull him in as he walked past for the 5th time. Apparently, everyone had wondered why he kept going by before remembering that muggles couldn't see the place unless directed by a witch or wizard. He followed the man to a back room where a half dozen people were already assembled.

"Tobias, good of you to make it out to London." Albus Dumbledore greeted him. Albus introduced some of the other order members, he recognized the half-giant Hagrid immediately. There was another older wizard that looked like he could have been Albus's twin, Dumbledore introduced him as his brother Aberforth. Odd name, Tobias thought. A witch by the name of Minerva McGonagall sounded familiar. When she inquired about how Severus was doing over break, Tobias recalled that she was a teacher of Severus's.

The meeting itself covered some new information that wouldn't be found in 'The Daily Prophet' there was very little Tobias could contribute due to his lack of magic, but he gave his report of the towns he'd covered. The biggest challenge being that the wizarding world had done such a good job over the centuries of hiding their existence that now muggles were unlikely to even believe there was a threat to them.

"Albus," Tobias called the older wizard after the meeting "it's about Harry."

Albus looked over his half-moon spectacles and waited for Tobias to continue.

"He's been having nightmares lately. They're quite bad and complaining about headaches as well. I took him to a doctor but he wasn't able to find anything. Severus seems to think there is a potion that would be helpful."

Albus nodded, "I'll send Madam Pomfrey over after the holidays, I'm afraid she's visiting her family at the moment."

"Thank you, Albus. I better be heading back now. Save Mrs. Evans from pulling her hair out. The boys have been at each other most of the holiday, I'm dreading summer if it's going to be like this."

Albus chuckled and bid Tobias fair well.

/

Harry sat at his desk staring off into space. Severus and Lily had left a few days before to return to Hogwarts and Madam Pomfrey had stopped by to give Harry some dreamless sleep potions for children which had been helping with the nightmares. Christmas had been wonderful, but the rest of the holiday had just been him and Severus at each other, squabbling about one stupid thing or another. They both had known it was dumb but they couldn't seem to help it either and Harry was even more annoyed at himself when he knew how childish he was acting but couldn't seem to stop. Then Tobias would lose his temper as well. Harry had spent more time in the corner the last week than he had since the summer.

"Mr. Snape!" an irritated voice broke through his thoughts and Harry jumped slightly before finding the angry blue eyes of Mr. Harris staring at him.

"Well thank you for joining us."

Harry was confused, he had been sitting right here, he looked around and his classmates were all staring at him. Mr. Harris had apparently been trying to get his attention for several minutes.

"Sorry" he mumbled.

Mr. Harris nodded and continued at the blackboard and Harry's mind wandered off again to Hogwarts and how much he missed his classes there, he didn't think he could take 2 and a half years of this before he went back.

"Mr. Snape! Will you pay attention!" Mr. Harris scolded him a second time. Harry reddened at the public chastisement and attempted to focus on the lesson but Professor Binns was even more interesting than this particular lesson, and that was saying something. Harry couldn't remember if the Goblin Rebellion that took place in Hogsmeade was in 1612 or 1752, they were both so long ago did it really matter?

"Harry, this is your final warning." Mr. Harris interrupted his thoughts, again. Harry rolled his eyes at the threat, this lesson was tedious. He was suddenly jerked to his feet by his arm and pulled to the corner, he slumped forward and rested his forehead on the wall. He supposed now that Mr. Harris had been serious about paying attention to the lesson, still, it wasn't that bad, he could stare at the boring wall and think about Hogwarts "I'll be writing a note home for your father, I expect it signed." Mr. Harris told him before he went back to his lesson again. Harry groaned, so much for it not being too bad.

/

Harry sprinted home as quick as he could, Tobias had told him to come right home after school, but then Mr. Harris kept him after to write lines on the blackboard. He had a new found respect for teachers that wrote on blackboards all day long, it had only been an hour and his entire arm hurt. He pushed open the door and kicked off his trainers and jacket before heading to the kitchen for a snack. Tobias was sitting at the kitchen table with 'The Daily Prophet' and his notebook taking notes of the latest raid.

"You're late," Tobias said in a tone that made chills run down Harry's spine.

Harry swallowed, somehow he didn't think to apologize would help. "Yes, sir," he whispered and poured himself a glass of milk which he drank down quickly.

"Explain."

Harry turned to face the man his scar gave a brief twinge, it only took a glance for Harry to know he had to tread carefully here, he didn't understand why Tobias was so angry. Tobias had always been strict but fair and for the first time since he came to live with the man, Harry felt actual fear of him. "I… Mr. Harris kept me after," he pulled the note out of his pocket and with a trembling hand held it out to his adoptive father "H-he wants you to sign this."

Tobias took the note and read it quickly, Harry didn't even have time to become worried before the man was dragging him upstairs.


	22. Chapter 22

**Again, thank you all for the reviews. I know it is not always everyone's preferences, but I hope most of you enjoy it.**

January 9, 1977

Severus was about to put a bite of his scrambled eggs in his mouth when the world went dark. He put down his fork, only slightly annoyed. "Lily!" he whined although he wasn't overly upset.

"Happy Birthday, Sev!" she said and pulled her hands away, Severus looked down his breakfast plate had been pushed aside and in front of him was a small box.

"You didn't have to get me anything Lil." Severus said as she sat down next to him. She shrugged in a non-committal way and took a bite of a jam pastry. Severus carefully opened the green and silver wrapping paper. Lily rolled her eyes at this, it drove her insane that he refused to just rip it open but after all these years she knew that saying something wouldn't change anything.

Severus pulled out what looked like a small silver compact, he raised a brow at Lily "I know I have some spots but I'm not about to start wearing powder."

Lily laughed "I wouldn't be able to match your skin tone without you there anyway. That's not what this is. Open it up."

Severus did, and it simply showed a mirror with his reflection. Then he gasped as green eyes looked back at him through the mirror. He looked up and saw that Lily had pulled out a similar compact (hers did contain powder).  
"What the…?"

"Aren't they cool, this way we can talk to each other no matter where we are. I got the idea from James, he and Sirius have them.."

Severus scowled at the mention of the marauder's names but quickly smiled at Lily "These are great! Thank you."

The mail started flocking in, two owls landed in front of him with letters addressed to him. Severus slowly took the envelopes. The first was a simple card from his father with two galleons enclosed for his apparition exam and a note saying he had ordered a potions book for him and it should arrive within the week. The second envelope looked as if Harry must have taken one from an old bill and reused it, the amount of sellotape on it was ridiculous and it took Severus several minutes to open it without tearing its contents. Harry had included one of the magical coloring pages that he had, as carefully as he could, colored in. A green and purple dragon that was flying around the page, one eye was a bit wonky. It was blowing on a candle on a drawn in birthday cake (which ended up lighting the candle rather than putting it out). He read the note attached with a smile but as he read it further his smile faded a bit and he rolled his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked.

"Harry. He's complaining about dad being mean."

Lily smiled knowingly "Did he get in trouble?"

Severus nodded "Harry is ALWAYS in trouble. Although he doesn't usually complain about it, dad's pretty fair when he sma…" Severus trailed off, embarrassed to let Lily know how he and Harry often were disciplined.

Lily raised her eyebrow at him questioningly "He doesn't…. He doesn't hit you does he?" Lily couldn't hide her surprise when Severus didn't deny it. Lily looked horrified. She had always suspected but had never come right out to ask.

"It's not that bad. Only sometimes and I can't say we don't deserve it."

"Is that why your dad took me home early that one day during hols?"

Severus nodded with a blush.

"That's still horrible," Lily said decidedly.

Severus shrugged as he dug into his breakfast again "Haven't you ever noticed how differently boys and girls are treated?"

Lily snorted, "I probably noticed a lot that you are completely oblivious to." Lily couldn't help laugh at Severus's confused look. "Come on let's go to the library."

/

Harry repositioned the torch under his blanket so he could see the paper better he didn't dare turn on the light. He sniffed and wiped his face on his sleeve. A few tears had dropped down onto the letter he was writing to Severus leaving blots where they landed. He tried to wipe them away but it only made it worse. He lay on his stomach on the bed feeling very sorry for himself. The last few weeks had been horrible. He'd been getting in more trouble at school lately. His accidental magic flaring up when he was upset. Last week he'd been sent to the corner for telling Margret that she should 'shut the hell up' after she had teased him (she got sent to the corner as well), he had gotten so upset that his magic pulled Mr. Harris's chair out towards him just as the man was about to sit down. He ended up falling to the floor to the amusement of the rest of the class and Harry had gotten blamed for it. Technically it had been his fault but he hadn't done it on purpose. That didn't stop Mr. Harris from dragging Harry down to Dursley's office. Tobias had been irate, he knew exactly what had happened, accidental magic or not, Harry still got in trouble for not controlling his temper and his language. Since then Mr. Harris had been giving Harry suspicious looks and seemed just a bit more cold towards him.

Madam Pomfrey had brought over a months supply of dreamless sleep potion for children. She had apparently told Tobias it was only to be used twice a week and not consecutive nights because the body needed to dream to function and taking it too often could cause dependency on it. Harry hadn't known any of this, of course, and when Tobias had told him he couldn't have any the second night, Harry had decided to try and raid the medicine cabinet himself. He had gotten three nights of solid nightmare-free sleep before Tobias noticed that instead of seven vials left there were only five.

Harry felt that Tobias had completely over-reacted, if only he had told him what could have happened, he wouldn't have touched them. Tobias disagreed on the premise of he was the adult and didn't have to explain himself.

And this is why Harry lay on his bed writing to Severus complaining, again, how unfair everything was. So far Severus had only written back once, thanking Harry for the birthday drawing. Harry felt a bit ignored by the lack of response to his letters, the fact that he sounded like a petulant child didn't even occur to him, all he knew was that at the moment he felt very much alone and complained to the only person he could think of that might listen. He told Severus all about the nightmares, or at least as much as he could remember which wasn't much but he felt he should include how bad they were in hopes for some sympathy for taking the potions.

Harry felt his scar twinge and itch, he quickly turned off the torch and shoved it and the paper under his pillow and shut his eyes pretending to be asleep. The door opened and a beam of light fell on his bed as Tobias checked to see that he was asleep. Seemingly satisfied he closed the door again and headed down the hall to his own room.

/

Dear Mr. S. Snape,

We regret to inform you that you did not pass your apparition exam taken on January 15, 1977, at our remote office located in Hogsmeade. You are eligible to re-apply in 6 months at the Apparition Test Centre located on the 6th level, Ministry of Magic, London.

Regards,

Wilkie Twycross

Apparition instructor.

Severus just stared at the paper and read it over and over. He couldn't believe it. He'd done so well in all the lessons, he was sure he was going to pass. He'd never even failed a single exam at Hogwarts. And now he'd have to wait a full 6 months before he could try again. Angrily, he shoved the paper in his pocket.

He glanced at the childish handwriting on the other envelope and opened it. He quickly glanced through Harry's letter, it was crumbled and had clear watermarks on it. Harry was complaining again, mostly about dad being mean and unfair. Severus rolled his eyes if HE had a potions cabinet and some little kid went in there and took potions or ingredients he would be furious.

"What's the frown for, Sev?" Lily asked as she came over to the table Severus was sitting at.

Too embarrassed to mention the apparition test he handed Harry's letter over for her to read.

"He's still getting nightmares then? Poor thing. No wonder he risked snatching that potion, he was probably just desperate for some relief."

"That's no excuse," Severus responded, appalled that Lily wasn't more upset.

Lily shrugged "Is he always dreaming about people dying?" she asked reading over the brief description of the dream Harry had put down.

"I think so."  
"I wonder why."

Severus thought for a minute "He said his parents had been killed. Although he said something about a car crash."

Lily frowned as she reread the letter "Can I keep this for a bit?"

The dark haired teen nodded.

"I'm going to go check the library for a book about dreams if he keeps having the same theme maybe it means something."

And with that, she bounced off.

"Hey, Sev! Want to go flying?" Regulus asked after Lily had left. "You can sign out one of the school brooms from Madam Hooch."

Severus had plenty of homework to finish, but he was in no mood to deal with any of it after his results. He nodded. Regulus smiled, asking Severus to fly was almost always turned down but he kept asking. The two Slytherins went to put on warmer robes and find a school broom that went in a mostly straight line.


	23. Chapter 23

**Hello dear readers. Thank you again for you all your comments and support. You all rock.**

 **This chapter is a bit more angst than others, so fair warning.**

 **Please enjoy and drop a comment for me if you'd be so kind, I love seeing what you all think.**

Harry lay on this stomach on the living room floor pushing his cars around. He closed his eyes as another wave of pain went through his forehead. His scar was hurting more lately, at times the pain was blinding.

"Dad?" He asked looking up at Tobias who was reading the paper in his armchair. Tobias lowered the paper slightly looking at Harry with a bit of a frown.

Harry gasp as the pain intensified a bit. "My scar hurts. Do you have anything that could help?"

Tobias set down the paper and called Harry over he gently brushed the boy's hair off his forehead and in doing so his fingers grazed on the red angry scar.

Harry screamed and pulled back and gave Tobias a glare that had a hint of fear in it.

"Well, I can't help if I can't take a proper look at it," Tobias said annoyed.

Harry whimpered at the pain but went back, holding his hair off his forehead himself. Tobias studied it without touching it. It looked as if the wound was new, just barely healed enough not to bleed.

"Can you swallow tablets?" he asked. Harry nodded, Tobias went to the kitchen and dampened a cloth with cool water and found some headache pills, although he had a feeling they would do little good. Harry obediently took the tablets and put the cloth to his forehead before climbing onto the sofa to lay down.

/

Warming charms were the best thing ever. Of this Severus was positive as he flew high over the quidditch pitch with Regulus. He'd taken to going out with the younger boy every chance he could. He had never cared for flying before but that might have been that his only experience with it came from flying lessons where he was surrounded by two dozen other boys and girls, many of which had experience or brooms of their own and Potter and Black's merciless taunting hadn't helped him want to try more than he had to. Regulus, however, had been patient and as they flew around in a companionable silence Severus found he enjoyed the experience. He'd gone out so many times in the last few weeks that he even had a favorite school broom. He felt that it flew a bit straighter and faster than the others. And once Lily taught him how to do the warming charm going out in mid-February wasn't nearly as insane as he had once thought.

"Thanks for coming flying with me." Regulus said after a bit, "It's nice not flying alone."

"Don't you and Sirius fly?" Severus asked thinking how nice it would probably be to have someone close in age to fly with, and of course enough money for each to have a broom as well.

Regulus shook his head "I mean we used to, but now that's not going to happen anymore."

"Why not? I know you're not very close, but you seemed to get along for the most part."

"We did, but Sirius isn't welcome at home anymore. Mother burnt him right off the family tree."

Severus had no idea what that meant, but obviously, it wasn't a good thing.

"What happened?" Severus was too curious not to ask.

"Remember when Sirius got suspended in October? Father beat him, worse than after Diagon Ally. Anyway, after he went over to the Potters and stayed there the whole time. Mother and Father changed the floo password and told him not to bother coming back." Regulus said sadly. "He doesn't talk to me much at school anyway, but summer is going to be really quiet and lonely."

"Uh oh," Severus muttered as he looked down at the ground. Professor McGonagall was angrily striding towards them. The boys cruised down to the ground.

"Potter! Black!" she started but then stopped with surprise when she realized that it was not her usual two delinquent Gryffindors. "Mr. Snape, Mr. Black. I don't know why you both thought it acceptable to go flying after dark in freezing temperatures I expect you both to use your heads in the future. Three feet on the dangers of hypothermia by Monday."

"We used a heating charm though, professor," Regulus argued.

"add an extra foot then on why a heating charm isn't a sufficient precaution."

Professor McGonagall ushered the boys back into the castle and brought them to the Slytherin common room.

"Professor Slughorn," she called out when she entered and the portly man came over to see what was the matter. "Madam Pomfrey noticed these two flying around the pitch, she called me thinking they were mine, can't blame her for that assumption, I've already assigned them an essay."

Slughorn looked unimpressed with his two Slytherin's stunt " I assume you both have all your homework completed?" he asked knowingly. Severus and Regulus looked at their head of house a bit sheepishly. Both had been flying so much recently their homework was suffering and teachers had complained to Slughorn about the pair. He had planned to speak to them about it on the weekend but as the opportunity presented itself now he took it.

"not quite, sir," Severus said. Regulus just shook his head.

"Hum, I see. A flying ban for the immediate future until all your missing assignment are handed in then?" Slughorn asked rhetorically. "yes, yes, I think that will due."

The two Slytherins sighed and sat down at a table to work on their assignments.

/

Wizarding mail was an interesting thing. In Harry's previous timeline he'd never thought much about it since he had Hedwig and even if she was unavailable there were always plenty of school owls. When he first saw Tobias affix a bronze knut to a letter and put it in the branches of the sole tree in the back garden Harry was intrigued. Within five minutes an unburdened owl swooped down and removed the letter and knut and flew off. This, Harry discovered, worked best when the letter was placed in tree branches, but any place high off the ground would work just as well, a lamp post, window sill, balcony, etc.

By the next day, Harry had discovered that the small pot on the mantle contained bronze knuts, and thus Harry helped himself whenever he wanted to send a letter to Severus, which some weeks were as many as three letters. He hadn't paid much attention to the steady decline of funds in the pot.

/

Harry sat curled up on the couch with a book, but he wasn't making very much progress on the story, his scar was hurting so much he couldn't concentrate and Tobias seemed agitated. He had been at his desk for the last several hours reviewing notes and writing something down. He then put it all together in an envelope and affixed a wax seal after adding the address.

He walked over to the little pot containing the knuts and reached in. He had to do a double take as he looked into the pot to see only a small amount of knuts left. He looked back at the small boy who was pretending to read his book.

"Harry? Do you know what happened to all the knuts?"

"I…. I…. Used a few to write to Sev." he whispered as he silently hopes the couch would swallow him up when Tobias's expression changed from agitated to scary. " I didn't think you'd mind," he added quietly.

"Were they yours to take?" Tobias asked dangerously.

Wide green eyes looked back at Tobias, Harry swallowed and shook his head.

"You did not ask to have them,"

"It was just to write Sev." Harry interrupted.

"We've had SEVERAL discussion about not touching things that don't belong to you. And now you've resorted to not just touching but stealing. Perhaps our previous discussions didn't drive the point home properly, hum?"

"No, no they did. I won't do it again I swear! I'm sorry!" Harry pleaded as Tobias grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him off the couch.

Harry stopped writing to Severus after that.

/

Lily sighed loudly as she looked over the dozen or so crumpled pieces of notebook paper with Harry's scribbling on them.

"I can't make much sense of it, he's all over the place with what he's talking about."

Severus grunted in agreement but didn't look up from his new potions text.

"Severus! Something just feels wrong here." Lily said seriously.

The boy sighed "Like what?"

"I'm not sure. I just know."

"Well, then what am I supposed to do about it?" Severus said with a bit of frustration.

"Did you get any letters this week?"

"No"

"Last week?"

Severus thought for a moment "No, it's been almost 3 weeks."

"So he goes from 2 or 3 letters a week to none. And you're not concerned."

At this fact, Severus looked back with a guilty expression he had in fact been concerned and although he wouldn't admit it, missed hearing from Harry. "I don't know what you think I'm supposed to do," he said desperately and put his head in his hands.

"Severus, something is wrong. I know it. I don't know why or how, but I know." Lily's green eyes were deadly serious as she talked to her friend.

A thought occurred to Severus and he sat up "Your mom! She watches Harry on Saturdays a lot, ask her if he's ok."

Lily's smile brightened and she nodded "Yeah if we send an owl now we might hear back by mail time tomorrow."

/

Lily and Severus did not hear back by mail time the next day. In fact, it took two days of anxious waiting before a tawny owl landed on Lily's eggs. Severus was by her side before she had finished removing the letter from the owl.

"Get out of here Snape." Sirius growled out "This is the Gryffindor table."

"Oh shut it before I hex you." Lily snapped back at him while Severus just rolled his eyes.

 _Lily,_

 _I'm sorry to say I haven't been watching Harry for a few weeks now. Mr. Snape said he didn't need to make trips as frequently anymore. I gave them a call the other day to see how things were and he assured me everything was fine. You seemed worried in your letter. Is everything alright?_

 _Love,_

 _Mom_

"I don't like this." Severus whispered and Lily nodded her head in agreement.

/

Mrs. Evans phone call to the Snape residence had not gone over well at all. Tobias turned on Harry as soon as he had hung up the phone. By now Harry had recognized when he was about to get it and took off upstairs, he didn't even bother trying to figure out what supposed crime he had committed. Had it been Uncle Vernon he would have surely outrun the man and made it to safety but Tobias was fitter, slimmer, and faster. Harry had only a moment to grab a crayon and a bit paper and scribble two words down before tossing the sheet outside the window. He didn't have a knut to send it out with but he was out of options before Tobias barged into the room. Harry wished that there was somewhere to hide. Uncle Vernon would usually tire out rather quickly, Harry recalled, the same could not be said of Tobias.  
"I didn't do anything!" Harry stammered out before the pain in his forehead erupted.

/

Severus picked at his dinner. He glanced around the room and saw Lily was doing the same, and oddly enough James Potter wasn't eating either which was extremely unusual as that boy had a bottomless pit as a stomach. Severus looked up at the staff table, it appeared that half the staff had decided not to show up for dinner tonight. Severus's mind wandered back to Harry and his stomach clenched in anxious worry. A little sparrow flew into the great hall, completely unnoticed by all until it landed in Severus's mashed potatoes. Startled Severus stared at the little bird for a moment until he saw there was something in its beak, he held out a hand slowly and the bird dropped a small bit of paper into his hand, then helped itself to some of Severus's dinner.

Unfolding the tiny paper Severus heart dropped. There, in green crayon in Harry's handwriting simply said:

 _Sev, Help_


	24. Chapter 24

**Hi everyone,**

 **Thank you for your reviews and reading. I hope you're enjoying the story as much as I am creating it.**

The hallways always seemed to get longer if you were in a hurry. Severus ran as fast as he could, past suits of armor and paintings that yelled at him to slow down, right through one of the ghosts, he didn't even slow to see who it was, he turned a corner at full speed and crashed right into Filch. Before he was able to get up and continue his mission a gnarled boney old hand gripped his arm tightly and began pulling him in the opposite direction of where he wanted to go.

"Let me go. I need to speak to Dumbledore!" Severus tried to pull himself free and despite his now 17 years Filch still had a strong hold of him.

Filch muttered something unintelligible and dragged a struggling Severus to Professor McGonagall's office, he knocked and pushed open the door before she had even invited them in. He gave Severus a hard yank on his arm and the boy tumbled into the office.

"What is the meaning of this Argus?" McGonagall said tersely.

"This one's been running in the corridors, almost knocked me right over."

"Please, Professor I need to speak with Dumbledore, its an emergency."

"Professor Dumbledore is not here at the moment, he had some other business to attend to. Thank you Argus I'll handle this." Filch grunted again and left "And really, Severus, running in the corridors like a first year."

"Professor!" Severus was a bit panicked now.

"What is the issue, Mr. Snape?"

"Its Harry, I think something's wrong at home."

"Harry?"

"Yes, Harry. My brother, sort of… Dumbledore brought him to us, Dad adopted him."

"Oh! The little boy that just popped into the Headmasters office the one day. I had wondered what he ended up doing with the child. What makes you think there is a problem?"

Severus handed her the note, McGonagall made a face "This is hardly sufficient evidence that there is an issue, many children write notes like these."  
"Please, professor, I know something's wrong, I can't prove it, but I know."

McGonagall scrutinized Severus for a moment "Very well, I'll contact the Department of Underage Wizardry and have them make a check, your father is muggle isn't he? … I'll floo call them right now, is there anything else? Then I suggest you head back to your common room, its almost curfew."

Severus did not feel better after his talk with Professor McGonagall, in fact he felt worse. Running back to his dorm he pulled out his heavy winter cloak, hat, scarf and gloves. He quickly made his way to the broom closet and picked out the trusty old broom that flew just a tiny bit better than the others and headed towards the main doors.

"Snape!" a voice rung out in the deserted hall. Severus cringed and turned around

"What do you want, Potter?"

James studied Severus for a moment "You're trying to sneak out, aren't you?"

Severus just gave James a blank look.

"You wont even make it past the wards like that."

"And you know this how?"

"Second year, Sirius and I tried to go to Hogsmeade, wards transported us directly to the Headmasters office."

Severus crossed his arms "Why are you telling me this."

"I… I'm not sure. But it's important you go, isn't it?"

A nod.

"Come with me."

Not feeling like he had much of a choice Severus followed James to a dead end corridor with a less than friendly statue of a witch with one eye. James tapped the back of the witches hump and muttered something that Severus couldn't make out and the hump opened up revealing a shoot. "This passage will take you right into Honeydukes cellar, from there though you're on your own."

"And you won't be running to a teacher as soon as I go down this… uh, slide here?"

James held up two fingers in a type of salute "Junior Wizards Society honor, I swear to keep mum about your whereabouts." Severus raised an eyebrow at the odd pledge. James seemed to think for a moment "But if you're not back by Monday I'm telling."

"Fine." Severus said and climbed into the witches hump with the school broom and his small bundle of winter gear.

/

Despite McGonagall's essay on hypothermia and the insufficient protection of a warming charm, Severus hadn't planned his adventure very well. After the long trek to Hogsmeade he put on his winter clothes and mounted the broom and began to fly south. The Hogwarts Express made it from London to Hogsmeade in roughly 8 hours, however Cokeworth wasn't as far south as London. There was also no way the school broom was as fast as the train.

Severus found himself reapplying the warming charm several times but it did nothing once he flew into freezing rain. His cloak soaked through and his broom was forming a layer of ice making it hard to stay seated. The teen eventually landed and took shelter under a bridge and attempted to dry off his cloak and thaw out a bit before continuing his journey home.

/

Friday evenings were, in Professor Slughorn's opinion, the best evening of the week. He either was hosting one of his 'Slug Club' parties or joined some of the staff down at The Three Broomsticks as he had been tonight. Humming quietly to himself he opened the door to the 6th year boys dorm room and cast his wand light towards each bed. Severus's bed had a boy shaped lump under the covers as did the other 4 beds. Satisfied that all his snakes were where they needed to be Horace went to his quarters, poured himself a bourbon and went to sleep.

/

Finally landing in the back garden Severus set his broom aside and tried to open the back door, it was locked and the spare key wasn't in its normal location.

'Alohomora' Severus unlocked the back door and walked into the quiet and dark house. There was a soggy bowl of cereal on the table and a half a cup of cold coffee, a turned over chair. Severus noticed the house was very cold, he walked into the living room and heard a crunch under his feet, reaching over to flip the light switch he flicked it down but nothing happened.

'Lumos' his wand lit up and his mouth dropped open, the lightbulbs had all shattered, books and papers were thrown around the room and one of the window panes was shattered. Severus quickly waved his wand near the fireplace to start a fire going and repaired the room with a few waves of his wand. He smiled at how quickly the damage was corrected, being a of age in the wizarding world did have a few advantages.

He took off his cloak and set it by the fire to dry out.

"Harry?" He called out, not expecting an answer.

"Dad? Harry? Anyone home?"

A small thump could be heard from the cupboard under the stairs. Then a louder one followed by several more. Unlatching the door, Severus quickly found his arms full of little boy who barreled into him holding tightly.

"Sev, you came, I knew you would. What took so long?" Harry asked, his voice muffled as his face was pressed into Severus's chest.  
"It's a bit of a long story." He pulled the boy back from him and looked "Oh Harry. What happened?" gently touching a bruise on the side of the small boys face. Harry looked down and shrugged.

"Dad … Severus, somethings wrong with him." Harry sobbed out burying his face once more in Severus's chest. Severus wasn't sure how to react so he simply put his arms around Harry in a hug but the little boy tensed up at the contact. Kneeling down so he was eye level with small boy he searched his face for some sort of answer.

"Let me see?" he asked. Harry nodded and turned so that Severus could pull up the t-shirt. A small gasp escaped him, Harry's back and chest had stripes that wrapped around his small body and a few bruises. This was far beyond any punishment Severus had ever received. He couldn't believe his father capable of this. "Dad did this?"

Between hiccups, Harry nodded.

"Lets go."

"Go?"

" You don't think I'm going to leave you here do you? Go put on your warmest jumpers. We can fly back to Hogwarts, or at least London."

"There's no way I can sit on a broom right now."

"I'll think of something," Severus said while Harry grabbed his jumper.

The boys headed towards the door, when Severus grabbed the knob his hand got some sort of shock. He tried using his wand to open the door but that didn't work either. Harry just looked up at him and gave him a worried look.

"Going somewhere, boys?" a baritone voice behind them sent a chill down both their spines as they slowly turned to see their father slowly walking towards them. Severus quickly pulled Harry behind him and raised his wand at the man advancing on them.

Tobias snapped his fingers and Severus's wand flew out of his hand into Tobias's. The boys just stared as the man held the wand in his hands as if it was the most natural thing and looked at them as he contemplated, a sadistic grin appearing on his face. They didn't have a lot of time to think about it when Severus realized that in his father's other hand he already had his belt ready to use, he swallowed and regretted even more not being able to apparate yet. Having been thusly disarmed when Tobias raised his arm Severus did the only thing he could do, he tucked Harry under him and used his body to block the blows from hitting Harry as best he could.

/

The house was finally quiet, Harry was pinned under Severus, he winced as he tried to move the older boy off of him. Severus had taken the brunt of the assault but Harry hadn't escaped completely unscathed either. Groaning Severus pushed himself up and Harry quickly crawled out before Severus collapsed again, he ran to his room and pulled out the small stash of first aid supplies he'd hidden there and began to treat his brother with more skill and experience than any 8 year old should have.

"That wasn't dad," Severus mumbled.

"I know."

"What happened to him."

Harry didn't answer, he didn't have one.

"I'm so sorry you've had to deal with him all by yourself. Didn't the teachers suspect anything?"

Shaking his head sadly Harry gave a quick shrug "Mr. Harris doesn't seem to like me much anymore after my accidental magic did stuff to him a few times. He would have been more likely to send me to Dursley's office for lying than actually listen to me."

Severus understood that, so many children in Cokeworth had horrible homes that most adults didn't even bat an eyelash at most of it. Sitting up the teen carefully replaced his shirt.

"Has Dad started drinking anything or doing anything else that seems odd?" Severus asked knowing that some people reacted badly to alcohol and that his father had once drunk heavily but hadn't touched a drink in years, even so, he had never done anything like this.

Harry shook his head, "He just comes home and reads the paper and writes notes down in that notebook. And gets mad at me. And I don't know why. I try to be good, Sev, honest." Harry said with such seriousness it broke Severus's heart.

Severus picked up the notebook and flipped through it. "This one?... Its blank, Harry."  
"But that's impossible he's always writing in it."

Severus handed it to Harry who flipped through it with a frown.

"IT'S NOT FAIR!" Harry screamed and in a unusual show of temper threw the book into the fireplace "Why does bad stuff always happen to me?" Severus pulled the small boy into his arms and held him as he cried and eventually fell asleep. Severus felt exactly the same way. It had been a long night and day, Severus hadn't properly slept since Thursday night and it was now late Saturday traveling now would not be safe. Besides that Tobias had his wand, where ever the man had disappeared to. There were so many questions floating around in his mind that Severus had no answer to. Carefully he picked up Harry and carried him upstairs and tucked him into his bed and climbed in besides him. He'd worry about everything else in the morning.

/

"Sir!" a tiny voice squeaked.

Horace Slughorn looked down at the tiny Hogwarts House Elf with surprise, it had been at least a decade since a House Elf had come to him.

"Yes?"

"Noddy was making the beds, sir. One of your boys beds has not been slept in."

Horace was taken by surprise at this, he had gone to each room and checked on all his snakes before going to bed himself. "Please show me." he asked of the little House-elf who nodded and lead the way to the 6th year dorm and to Severus's bed. Horace frowned and pulled back the covers to see a pile of clothes arranged in the bed. He thanked the nervous little elf and with a sigh went to find Professor Dumbledore, he didn't look forward to explaining that he was missing a student for almost 24 hours before he noticed. Shaking his head he wondered why when something happens it was always Severus.


	25. Chapter 25

**Guest, LOL, I don't hate it when errors are pointed out, in fact, I usually thank the person and make the fix, as long as they're pointed out in a way so that I can fix them. "Hey this is spelled wrong." or "this paragraph really doesn't make sense because..." are great feedback. Making rude or unhelpful comments "Your grammar is bad" or "this is horrible" is not helpful to me or anyone else. So my complaint a while back was because the criticism was not specific enough for me to do anything with it and of course it was anonymous so I couldn't even ask them to clarify. I hope you can understand where I was coming from when I vented my frustrations about critiques that were just vague complaints rather than actual help. Because the comment I was referring to was not in any way helpful. I too noticed the drink was missing in the section with Slughorn and added it as soon as I was able. Not sure what happened when I uploaded that chapter into FF. So thank you as well for pointing it out. :-)**

 **Everyone else, thank you so much for your comments I hope I was able to respond to most of you. I sincerely appreciate all the support and feedback you've given me for this story. All your questions help me make sure I'm not leaving any plotholes (or at least not as many as I otherwise might have).**

A tall but slender witch with her hair in a tight bun and glasses stooped down to pick up the bit of parchment on the floor. She read the memo and briskly went to her superior's office.  
"Sir, this message just came in it's from Professor McGonagall at Hogwarts. She's requesting a well check on a child in… Cokeworth."  
"Cokeworth? But that's a muggle town." the balding man that was far too large for his little desk and chair said as he looked at the clock he had stayed late already and had no desire to take on additional paperwork tonight.  
"Put it on Bentley's desk, he can deal with it in the morning."  
The woman frowned, it didn't seem right to not check on the child but she'd only just been hired and didn't want to rock the boat.

/  
The small little furnace sleeping next to Severus rolled over and an elbow hit the teen right in the nose.  
Ugh! Severus woke right up and grabbed a tissue for his now bleeding nose and gave Harry a glare even though the boy was sound asleep. Quietly he got up and made his way to the bathroom for a hot shower. The house was quiet, it didn't look like Tobias had returned. Thank Merlin!. Glancing at the clock, Severus realized it was close to dinner time. His stomach rumbled in agreement, he and Harry had slept for a few hours, certainly not a full night's rest but he felt a bit more alive now as he made his way to the kitchen to find out what was available to eat. A half dozen apples were all that seemed to be in the house, he grabbed one and made his way to the living room to curl up on the couch. He looked longingly at the fireplace, wishing he had his wand to light it. The ashes had an odd, unnatural shape to them. Reaching in, Severus pulled out the book Harry had tossed in. It was still a bit warm and the stitching that had secured the tan leather cover had burned away but the pages were intact. Severus pulled on the cover a bit and it fell away easily revealing the original black cover under. Puzzled he looked over the unharmed book.  
"Where did you get that?" Harry asked from the stairs, his voice was tight as he eyed the book warily.  
"It's the journal, the outside cover came off." Severus handed it to Harry who took one quick glance at it and paled as if he'd seen death.  
"We need to go to Dumbledore. Right now," he said anxiously as he started to put his shoes on and jacket.  
"Harry?"  
Harry wasn't sure how much to say, how would he explain knowing what that book was.  
"Sev, we really need to go, if dad comes back and we're still here…"  
"We can go in the morning."  
"No. Now," Harry said with firmness beyond any 8 year old as he handed Severus his coat and put the remaining apples and a bag of crisps into his school bag along with the book. "We can't wait till morning, come on."  
Severus wanted to argue, but something in Harry's tone was urgent and it would be easier to fly under the cover of darkness than leave in the morning. They headed out the back kitchen door and awkwardly mounted the old broom.  
"Um, Sev, why don't we just apparate back?" Harry asked reasonably.  
Severus reddened "I failed my test." he mumbled.  
Harry looked at him incredulously in either timeline he couldn't imagine Severus ever failing anything. It took a few tries for the boys to figure out a safe and somewhat comfortable way for both of them to stay on the broom before it slowly rose up into the air.

/

"Horace, what do you mean we're missing a student?" Dumbledore growled at Slughorn. Professor Slughorn winced at the harsh tone.  
"I checked on all the children before I went to bed last night, they all appeared to be in bed. Noddy just came to inform me a little while ago that Severus had apparently not slept in his bed, I went to check and he had put some of his clothes in the bed and arranged it to look like he was sleeping."  
"It's obvious you didn't perform the quin vitae charm. As is PROCEDURE." Albus bellowed.  
"No, Headmaster," Horace said looking at the desk rather than the furious eyes of Dumbledore. He was only a few years younger than Albus but feeling the headmaster's ire was never pleasant regardless of how old one was.  
Dumbledore threw some floo powder into the fireplace "Senior Staff meeting, 10 minutes." he yelled before giving Slughorn a final withering glare and stormed out off his office to the staff room.  
Slughorn shuttered slightly as the office door slammed shut.

/

William Bentley walked down the narrow cobblestone streets looking for Spinners End. He wrinkled his nose at the smell of waste that came from the factory. The buildings in this section of town were in terrible shape, a few homes showed they were trying with a flower box or two on the windows. He cursed his supervisor under his breath, the report of a child to check on had come in late yesterday and the man had ignored the message, then the note had gotten buried under his other paperwork, he hadn't found it until it was time to go home.  
Bentley found the house on the address and looked at the darkened home, he knocked several times but there was no answer. Peering through the windows he noticed that the home looked like it was in order (thanks to Severus's clean up efforts) he did a quick scanning charm of the house to find there was no one there, he scribbled a quick note on the paperwork before apparating back to his own home for dinner.

/  
"Thank you for coming here at such short notice," Dumbledore began "I'm afraid we have a bit of an emergency." he gave Slughorn a glare and the man nervously loosened his tie. "It would appear that we have… misplaced… a student."  
The remaining faculty gasped.  
"It would appear that although the castle wards have not been tripped one of our 6th-year boys has managed to leave the grounds. Have any of you seen Severus Snape in the last 24 hours?"  
The remaining staff members murmured to each other and looked around the small conference room.  
"Headmaster, I saw Severus around dinner yesterday. Filch brought him to me over some petty thing, the boy was quite distressed about his brother, Harry, insisting that he was in danger. I promised I would have the child looked in on but perhaps young Severus decided to take matters into his own hands." Professor McGonagall informed the worried group.  
Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully "That does sound like the most reasonable explanation so far, has anyone else seen him?" There was a general shaking of heads. "Minerva, have you heard back from the Underage Wizardry department yet?"  
"No, but it its the weekend, I did not expect to hear back till Monday."  
Dumbledore nodded solemnly, although he was not happy about this it was not, unexpected. "Horace, go to the Snape's home and find out if he's there. I expect Tobias will be less than pleased that we've allowed Severus to dupe us."

/

Playing Quidditch was something Harry had loved since his first day on a broom. Riding double on an old Shooting Star150 school broom, overnight, in March, however, did not fall into the category of things he enjoyed about flying. He shifted again and Severus hissed at him to stop because it was distrubing the balance.  
"Can't we take a break?" he whined.  
"We just had one 20 minutes ago."  
Harry pouted and leaned his cheek against Severus's back, he would have preferred to sit in front but it was even harder to stay on the broom like that so he had been stuck not being able to see where they were going which made him feel uneasy.  
The boys had been flying for hours when a terrifying thought occurred to Harry,  
"Severus, are you sure we're going in the right direction?"  
The older boy stiffened at the question "Of course we are." he answered a lot more confidently than he felt. Harry wasn't quite convinced but there was little he could do so they flew on in comfortable silence for a while longer. Soon the sun began to rise and shed an orange hue over the countryside. Harry blinked realizing he must have dozed off for a moment. He glanced around and then his heart raced as a huge tree was right in front of them, just barely visible in the early morning light.  
"SEVERUS! TREE!" Harry shouted and Severus jerked the broom handle. The old broomstick was slow to react and they flew right into the branches. Severus's robe got caught on a branch and he was pulled off the broom. The handle pitched down launching Harry into the air. Harry covered his face with his arms as he was thrown through the branches. A particularly large one stopped his momentum and he began his downward journey, bouncing off of one limb to the next all the way down the three-story tree. Harry's fall had taken a different path and with a large splash, he landed in the creek that was going by. Harry stood up in the knee-deep water and looked for Severus who had already landed on the hard ground on the other side of the tree. He found him sitting up holding his ankle.  
"Are you alright?"  
"I think I sprained my ankle." the older boy held up a bit of wood, the broomstick had snapped in half. He gasped as he tried to move his foot before leaning back against the trunk of the tree and closing his eyes. The grimace on his face told Harry he was in more pain than he would admit to him. Harry glanced around the landscape and then a huge smile formed on his face.  
"A house! I'm going to go to ask for help!" Harry shouted and ran towards the small dwelling.  
"No! Harry! Wait!" Severus struggled to his feet but with a bad ankle wasn't able to follow and soon the little boy had made it to the house.  
Harry completely forgot his manners burst through the door, he came to a skidding halt as a wand was pointed right in his face.


	26. Chapter 26

**Here's the next! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!**

The house was dark, it was obvious to Horace that neither Severus nor Harry were at the little home in Spinner's End. Pulling out some parchment he scribbled a quick note to Dumbledore that the boys were not at their house and he was going to search around the neighborhood for either the boys or Tobias. Rolling up the note and affixing a knut he slid the message in one of the loops of a nearby lamp post and walked down the street towards the local pub. He hoped the muggles in this area had some decent food.

Horace sat down at the bar and ordered a pint and some bangers and was pleased when he found the food acceptable.

"You don't look like you're from around here." A tall man a few seats over said. Slughorn looked at the man who spoke to him, his knuckles were bruised and bloodied.

"Er, no, just passing through," Slughorn nodded to the man's hands "You should probably get that tended to."

The man looked down at his hands as if he just noticed the damage "Damn kids. Always back talking or getting into something. You got any?"

Horace shook his head "No, but I'm a teacher."

"Bless you, I got two. Boys. Bastard shits both of them." He said handing some bills to the barkeep and leaving.

"Thank you, have a nice night, Tobias." the man said as he cleared up the mess.

Horace watched the man leave and get in his car and drive off.

"You sure he should be driving?" he asked the man behind the counter with a worried expression.

"Why not? He didn't have a drop to drink. He comes in' ere a few times a week for dinner the last few months. Never drinks a drop but he's an angry son of a bitch. I feel bad for his kids, especially his little one, can't be more than 7. Saw him once, skinny, skittish little thing, I don't see how a kid that small can be that much trouble. At least the older boy is away at school. Never 'eard of the place, had a funny sort of name though. "

That got Slughorn's attention as the man rambled on "Whats his surname?"

"Snape. Why?"

Horace's wide eyes rivaled that of a house elf "Thank you for the meal. I must be off." he put down some muggle money, grabbed his overcoat, and left to try and follow Tobias back home.

/

Staring down the end of the wand Harry felt his eyes cross slightly. He swallowed his eyes flicking up to the owner. The wand lowered and Harry felt like he could breathe again.

"Who are you?" the wand owner asked pulling one of her young sons behind her as the other sat at the table watching events unfold.

"Harry?" a tall red-headed man said as he descended the stairs.

" I'm sorry for running in like this. I … I should have knocked."

"That you should have. How'd you get all the way out here by yourself?" the man asked.

"My brother and I were flying. We hit your tree."

The woman pursed her lips, clearly not approving of them flying around unsupervised on their land. "Arthur?"

"Tobias's boy, I told you he had another boy. Harry, what are you doing here?"

"It's a long story, Severus is out by the tree though, he hurt his ankle."

"Right, right, I'll go get him," Arthur said pulling on his wellies and coat.

Molly lead Harry over to the long table and sat him down she placed a bowl of porridge and some sausage in front of him and a cup of milk then examined his bruised face. Harry didn't wait to start eating, Tobias had been less than generous with the food he'd bring home as of late. Now that Harry no longer had a wand pointed in his face and a bit of food in his stomach he looked around. The Burrow was considerably smaller than it had been on his last visit, then again he suspected that they added rooms as their family grew. Baby Percy was plump and sitting up in a playpen playing with some blocks. Charlie toddled over and placed several model dragons on the table next to Harry.

"Look what I got for my birthday." Harry looked on with interest as Charlie fed some of his sausages to the little Green Welsh dragon model.  
"Did you just have a birthday?" Harry asked with interest. It was apparent that Charlie's love for dragons started early.

Bill snorted "He turned 4 in December. He's been telling everyone for months about his birthday. I remember you. You played with us in Diagon Alley." Bill said with the air of importance that was often found in first borns, although Harry remembered Percy's know-it-all attitude would be completely insufferable, Bill was simply stating facts. "How old are you?"

"Eight."

"I'm six now. I'm taller than you." Bill stated and stabbed a sausage with his fork. Harry frowned at the reminder of being small for his age.

Mr. Weasley and Severus stumbled in and Mr. Weasley helped the teen over to the table. "Put that foot up on this chair here. Now then… what are you two doing all the way out here in Ottery St Catchpole?" he asked as he began to examine Severus's foot. Molly placed some food in front of the teenager. The boys both dove into their explanations in between shoving food into their mouths, often interrupting each other, skipping bits, going back to fill in missed parts. Molly and Arthur just sat there and listened trying to piece together what they were being told as they doctored up the boys at the same time. Mrs. Weasley's hands shook as she treated Harry's face now knowing how the boy came to be in such shape.

Mr. Weasley headed to the fireplace and threw in a pinch of floo powder "Headmasters office, Hogwarts." he said leaning in. "Professor, we've found some valuables I believe you're missing. Could you come through. …. Yes, I understand but this is important." Arthur stepped aside and a moment later Professor Dumbledore stepped out.

The old wizard looked around spotting Severus and Harry almost immediately. His expression darkened and Severus felt extremely nervous all of a sudden. Harry watched between the two as he silently chewed on his breakfast sausages. Dumbledore nodded his thanks to Mr. Weasley and headed over to the boys. He gently raised Harry's chin with one hand and pushed his fringe out of the way with the other examining the bruise on the side of the boys face with a frown, it did not go unnoticed that both boys were squirming uncomfortably on the bench where they sat.

"Molly, Arthur, thank you both for your assistance, I'll take the boys back with me to Hogwarts now. Madam Pomfrey will be busy it appears." Professor Dumbledore said as he glanced over the boys with a critical but knowing eye. Harry gave a small wave to Charlie and Bill before helping Severus over to Professor Dumbledore and into the floo.

/

Stepping into hospital wing from the floo felt a bit surreal. For Harry it was more of falling out of the fireplace but Dumbledore expected this and kept him from falling on his face.

"Sir, we need to talk to you. It's important." Harry started but before anyone was able to say another word Madam Pomfrey was there running diagnostics and pushing both Severus and Harry into beds. Harry kept trying to escape to talk to Dumbledore.

"The three of us will have a, what I'm sure is to be lengthy, discussion after Madam Pomfrey has finished with you," Dumbledore said and headed towards the door.

Harry ran after the old man but Madam Pomfrey was too quick for him and with a flick of her wand he was pulled back to the bed and stuck him there. Severus sat on the edge of his bed, a look of amusement on his face knowing it was of no use to fight the old witch. Harry however continued to struggle until Dumbledore had left the hospital wing, he had to tell Dumbledore about the diary. Finally settling back on the bed after Madam Pomfrey threatened to sedate him, Harry crossed his arms and scowled at the matron.

/

A few hours later Madam Pomfrey cleared both boys after much fussing over them and sent them up to the headmaster's office. Professor Dumbledore sat at his desk and bade the brothers to come in and sit down. Severus glanced at Dumbledore's stern expression and felt it would simply be better not to look up.

Dumbledore steepled his hands and watched the boys over his half-moon spectacles as they came in and sat down.  
"Explain."

Harry let Severus do most of the talking, occasionally Dumbledore would stop him and ask Harry to elaborate on what was going on at home. He grew ever more troubled as he heard Harry's version of events, some of which Severus didn't even know. It was obvious to Albus that sending Harry back home right now would be a mistake. Horace had come back last night very disturbed by what he had found out while visiting Spinner's End and Pomfrey's report confirmed his suspisions.

"You mean to tell me that your muggle father disarmed you using magic?" Dumbledore questioned, he seemed very disturbed by this. Severus blushed and nodded. Dumbledore decided it was best to change topics, he didn't want the boys to realize how alarmed he was by this new development.

"Severus, do you know the standard punishment for leaving Hogwarts grounds without permission?" Professor Dumbledore asked sternly.

Severus swallowed and nodded, his eyes firmly on the desk in front of him, refusing to meet the headmasters gaze. Madam Pomfrey had healed him from the previous day's beating but that didn't mean he felt he could face a caning now either. Harry looked at Dumbledore and back to Severus with horror, realizing just what Severus had risked by coming home for him. "Good, then you know what you'll be facing if you ever pull this kind of stunt again. The entire staff was trying to find you. We were about to alert the ministry if Mr. Weasley hadn't floo called when he did." It was a rare occurrence when Dumbledore was this austere and the twinkle that normally would be in his eye was significantly dulled.

"I'm sorry," Severus mumbled.

Dumbledore nodded "You may go, I need a few words with Harry."  
"You're not sending him back are you?" Severus worried.

"No, my boy. Not until we get to the bottom of your father's sudden violent tendencies. It would be negligent of me to send either of you back to that," Dumbledore explained. Harry tried not to snort, where was this mentality in his first life time when he was sent back to the Dursleys time and time again after he had begged Dumbledore not to send him back.

"You're dismissed Severus, Professor Slughorn is wanting a word with you. I believe he was able to retrieve your wand for you. Oh, and Severus, twenty points to Slytherin for your efforts to get Harry out of a dangerous situation."

Severus smiled and saw his way out.

The door had barely closed when Harry spoke up, "Sir, I know what's wrong with my dad. It's Voldemort."

"Voldemort?" Dumbledore leaned back in his chair as he studied the small boy in front of him.

Harry pulled out the diary from his bag and handed it to Dumbledore "This book was destroyed my 2nd year after part of Voldemort's soul possessed an 11-year-old girl. Dad got it for Christmas but we don't know who sent it. I didn't recognize it at first because there was another cover over this one."

Dumbledore looked over the book before setting it down and casting some spells over it, his brow furrowed and he nodded as he studied it more. "This is some very powerful dark magic, it will take some time to figure out how to destroy it safely."

Harry smiled "Just use some basilisk venom, that worked last time when I destroyed it."

Very few things surprised Albus Dumbledore anymore, but a small child sitting in front of him calmly telling him to use one of the rarest and difficult to find ingredients in the world as if it was as simple as putting a kettle on, was one of them.

"Harry, I don't know what happened in your other timeline, but right now basilisk venom isn't exactly easy to come by," and as if he just realized what Harry had said, "What do you mean YOU destroyed it?!"

As Harry explained how he had destroyed the diary the first time around Albus became more and more unsettled, how could it be that he allowed a child, a 12-year-old boy, to face such dangers alone.

".. so you see, sir. We can just go down to the chamber now and find an old fang that .."

"No, Harry," Dumbledore said.  
"But, sir!" Harry argued.

"I said no." Dumbledore responded so firmly that Harry immediately closed his mouth and stayed quiet "It's more than obvious that my future self is a poor excuse of a headmaster, allowing children to handle these matters and put themselves in such danger, from the sounds of it, more than once. You will not be assisting me as I destroy this object, this is a matter for the adults to deal with, Harry. You're 8."

"I was 15!" Harry tried to point out but quickly quieted again at the look Dumbledore was giving him.

"You are currently 8, and even 15 is too young to be dealing with these matters. I will take care of it. And once Tobias is back in his right mind we will review your living arrangements."  
The old wizard clapped his hands and Noddy arrived with a pop. "Noddy, please escort young Mr. Snape here back to the hospital wing. I believe Madam Pomfrey has set up one of the private rooms for his use while he stays here."

"The hospital wing?" Harry asked, deflated, he hated the hospital wing.

"I'm afraid so, it would be… inappropriate to place you in one of the dorms with children much older than you."

Noddy took Harry's hand and gave it a gentle tug until the boy reluctantly followed her out of the office.


	27. Chapter 27

**Thank you all for continuing to stick with this story. As always, I enjoyed hearing from those of you that reviewed. I hope you all like this next chapter.**

Noddy pulled Harry along the corridors, being much shorter than the last time he'd been in Hogwarts everything felt much bigger and just different enough to make Harry feel like his head was spinning.

All too soon Harry was back in the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey welcomed him back and showed him to his room, which she had called "The nursery". Harry was none too pleased with that, he was eight, not three, and gave her a glare behind her back. Walking into the little room that was off the back of the main infirmary room Harry had been taken aback by how homey the little room had been made to feel for him. Gone were the cold flagstones underfoot and he found a nice thick plush carpet. The room was well lit with two large windows and there were two lamps, one on the bedside table and one-floor lamp that would light up the room well in the evening, even a shelf with children's books. Harry looked around the room in awe, there were a few paintings on the wall, one of a dragon and a knight fighting, although it looked like they were taking a bit of a rest with the dragon curled up asleep and the knight sitting upright against it dozing as well. The second painting of an old tall ship sailing the ocean. Harry came closer to get a better look at it and a large wave sprayed out and hit him in the face. He sputtered out the salty water and wiped his face on his sleeve, he didn't like that one much. A third had some horses in a field, grazing at the moment. Harry cocked his head and watched them for a few moments. His eight-year-old interests taking over he realized that this room was much more suited for him than the large dormitories that the older children used, with their tapestries and fussy drapings on the beds. The only other furniture in the room beside the bed and side table was a smallish wardrobe.

Madam Pomfrey reentered the room with a basket and set it on the bed with instructions to put his clothes away. Harry nodded and looked in it and was delighted to find Max, his teddy bear, had been placed on top. Whoever had gone back to the house had been mindful enough to pack the beloved toy as well as the book Harry had been reading. Along with, of course, appropriate clothes for the season.

Harry noted that all his clothing had already been freshly laundered, which Harry was very grateful for. The last two and a half months Tobias had not been very good about the laundry and Harry was much too small to take the clothes to the laundromat himself. So he, in hardly any time at all, became the smelly kid in class. One Thursday Mr. Harris had told him outright not to bother coming on Friday if he wasn't going to make the effort to not offend everyone else's noses. Harry stayed home that Friday, too embarrassed to go to school, and too worried that he'd be sent to 'Aunt' Marge's office. The truant officers were less than keen on this reason for not going and of course, Tobias had completely lost it when he found out.

Harry hung up his clothes and then went to the adjoining bathroom for a bath, it had been ages since he'd enjoyed a proper soak and there was no place better than Hogwarts with its luxurious bathtubs to do so. He was not disappointed to find a large tub, bubble bath soap, and even bath toys.  
After Harry had finished and dressed Madam Pomfrey brought in a bag from Gladrags.

"There were a few necessities missing from your belongings so the Headmaster had one of the elves pick up the supplemental items you needed." she explained as she hung up a thick winter cloak, a rain cloak (which looked suspiciously similar to a yellow duck), and yellow rubber boots to match, and finally a robe and slippers.  
"It's time for dinner, come along now."

Harry was again ushered about, soon finding himself at the head table in the great hall sitting beside Professor McGonagall on one side and Professor Kettleburn on the other. Harry could barely see above the table as the chairs weren't made for those of his stature, he huffed and crossed his arms in a slight show of frustration. His chair slowly began to grow and the next thing Harry knew he was sitting properly at the table, able to see not only his plate but the food offerings as well. Looking around he spotted Professor Flitwick, who had undoubtedly used the same charm for his own chair, and smiled at him. The vertically challenged professor gave him a wink.

Professor Dumbledore took a moment to inform the student body of Harry's presence at the head table. The old wizard didn't say Harry's last name, which he figured was done on purpose so that the older students wouldn't necessarily associate him with Severus and thus leaving him to fall into the trap of house prejudices.  
Harry had incorrectly assumed that just because he could reach the food now, he'd be allowed to serve himself, this he soon realized, was not the case as McGonagall quickly dished out a small portion of meatloaf, mashed potatoes with gravy, and a much larger than he wanted portion of broccoli, and a small side bowl of salad.

"I don't like broccoli," he told her.

"Most children don't, eat it anyway."

"No one else has to!" Harry argued, he'd never been made to eat anything he didn't want while at Hogwarts before. The look he received in reply was enough to cow him. He rested his head on his hand and grudgingly choked down the green abomination on his plate. The salad, however, was pushing it. At 15 he enjoyed salad, but his 8-year-old tastes had simply not developed enough to even tolerate it, fortunately, McGonagall seemed satisfied that he had eaten the majority of his plate and so didn't push the salad and even let him choose his own dessert between the offerings available.

"If you'd like, starting tomorrow, you may sit with the other students."

Harry thought about it, he looked over at the Slytherins, wanting to run over to Severus and sit with him, but when he saw Avery and Mulciber sitting nearby Harry wasn't so sure anymore. What they had done to him over the summer was far more than simple bullying and he wasn't keen on the idea of being in close proximity to them.

The Gryffindor table was another option, Lily was there of course. But so was Sirius, who was just as much a bully as the Slytherins, and Peter, the traitor, and James, who Harry wasn't exactly sure how he felt about him. James had helped Severus out twice now but did that make up for years of ill-treatment?  
He scanned the Ravenclaw table and nearly choked on his pumpkin juice when he saw a golden-haired boy with a dazzling smile. No, Harry would not be joining that table either. And Harry was sure Severus would never let him live it down if he joined the Hufflepuff table.

"I'll think about it," he responded and then rubbed his eyes, the full meal and very long day finally catching up to the small boy.

Poppy came and taking his hand lead him back to the hospital wing and his little room. Professor Dumbledore came by to visit shortly after "I've made arrangements for a tutor to come work with you in the mornings and a couple afternoons each week. Since we're not sure how long you'll be staying here it's best not to fall too far behind on your school work."

Harry looked horrified at the thought and Dumbledore let out a little chuckle "I know, it doesn't sound like much fun but my staff is far too busy already to look after you as well."

"I'm fine on my own, really!" Harry tried to point out that he'd taken care of himself for years but Dumbledore only shook his head "I've got the very distinct impression that a certain someone would go getting himself lost in some hidden passageway." the old man gave Harry a knowing look and he knew he had lost. "You'll be happy, I believe, to know that you'll be with Hagrid twice a week you can help him out around the grounds, and Madam Hooch has offered to let you join her first years flying class Friday afternoons IF you've behaved yourself."

Harry brightened at the prospect and nodded eagerly.

Madam Pomfrey tutted in disapproval as she came in seeing Harry still dressed "Young man, it's time for you to be getting into bed. Go change into your pajamas and brush your teeth."

"Ah, yes, Madam Pomfrey is right, Goodnight Harry," Dumbledore said and started to rise.

"But it's early! Everyone else is still running around the castle!" Harry gestured to the main hospital wing doors which were propped open and a group of young Gryffindors noisily ran by.

"They are 11 and 12 years old, you are 8," Pomfrey stated curtly then softened when she saw Harry's dejected face "I know it doesn't seem fair to be the youngest in such a big castle with so many other children, but 4 or 5 years really makes a very big difference. You need your sleep."  
Harry made a face but changed anyway, the promise of flying lessons at the front of his mind, when he came out of his bathroom he smiled, Severus had stopped by to say good night.

/

He could see Severus down the long corridor but every time Harry called out to the older boy or got close enough Avery or McNair or Mulciber cut him off, laughing as they'd block his path. By the time Harry would get around them Severus was in the distance again. He was hungry and tired and not really sure where he was anymore and whenever he got to where Severus had been he'd spot the older boy halfway across the castle again. Eventually, Harry gave up, sliding down against one of the stone walls he buried his head in his hands to cry.

"Boy, you'd better not be sitting out there crying, my car's not washed yet!" A gruff voice called out. Harry looked up and blinked at the bright summer sun, he was huddled under the window box against the house at number 4 Privet Drive. Looking down at his overly large jeans, formerly belonging to a Dudley Dursley, Harry frowned in confusion. He wasn't quite sure how he'd ended up here. He didn't have long to contemplate when he heard the front door open. He scrambled to his feet and wiped his eyes. "What do you think you're doing over here, worthless brat." Uncle Vernon spat as he cuffed the small boy about the head. Harry raised his arms to cover his head, trying in vain to avoid the blows. A meaty hand grabbed his upper arm.

"Don't you dare run from me again!" the hand changed from a meaty grip to a strong calloused hand of years of hard manual work, the voice changed too to the deep baritone voice Harry knew all too well these days.  
"Dad?" Harry glanced up, almost hopeful before seeing Tobias's face. Scary didn't even begin to describe it. His face and head throbbed from Uncle Vernon's blows and now Tobias was lashing his belt down on Harry's backside. He couldn't even run off to hide because of the man's strong grip on his arm.  
"What did I do?" he cried out "Just tell me what it was and I'll never do it again. I'm sorry!" Harry begged although he'd long given up the practice in his first timeline.  
He felt himself be pushed back into the cupboard and the door slammed shut and locked.  
"No!" Harry screamed, he lunged forward and banged on the door "Let me out! Please, let me out! I'm sorry, I'll be good!" He cried and screamed.  
-

Gasping for air Harry sat straight up, his eyes flew open but he couldn't see anything for a moment as they adjusted. He wasn't in his room in Spinner's End, or at Privet Drive for that matter. It wasn't his dorm room at Hogwarts either, there was too much light for that he realized as he looked around and realized he was in his room off of the hospital wing at Hogwarts. He shivered and realized his pajamas were soaked through with sweat and tears were still pouring down his face. Max had fallen to the floor at some point during the night. Getting up, Harry changed into his second pair of night clothes and washed his face. He didn't want to go back to bed. Not now. It had been a long time since he'd had a nightmare and no one to comfort him. Tobias had, even on his bad days, let him crawl into bed with him. Severus was all the way in the dungeons now, Harry frowned, he wouldn't even know the Slytherin password even if he could find the common room and there was no way he'd go to Madam Pomfrey. Her quarters had to be nearby, although Harry had no idea where they were either. Not bothering to put on his slippers or robe Harry left his room and went out of the hospital wing. Harry wandered aimlessly for quite a while before finding himself in the owlery. He looked around sadly, knowing Hedwig wouldn't be there. He climbed onto the ledge of one of the windows and wrapped his arms around his knees as he looked over the grounds. They looked exactly the same. A small owl came over and landed near his feet, reaching out the small bird let him gently pet its feathers. Harry smiled sadly to himself, the little bird reminding him of Pig, Ron's owl. Idly he wondered if he'd ever seen Ron and Hermione again, or if he'd already be an adult when he did, he missed his friends so much but here he had Lily and Severus, and if they ever figured out how to take care of the diary, he'd have Tobias back too. He didn't think he could lose all of them, lose his family… again.

He brushed the tears away that had started to fall again.  
A rustling noise by the door cause him to turn his head, the door was open although he didn't see anyone there. He squinted into the darkness and saw a shimmery movement, a moment later a familiar looking fabric appeared as James Potter removed his invisibility cloak.  
The two boys looked at each other, almost identical except that, of course, James was older, wore glasses, and their eyes.

"You know, most people are usually impressed the first time they see this invisibility cloak," James stated as he came closer.

Harry smirked, he'd seen that cloak so many times it was not new to him, but he remembered how awestruck he and Ron were when he had gotten it that first Christmas at Hogwarts.

"It's a nice cloak."

"Harry, right?" James asked and the smaller boy nodded. "You're Snivellus's brother."

"Don't call him that," Harry said angrily.

James nodded "Alright," he acquiesced. "Are you okay?"  
The little boy just shook his head and wiped another tear away. "You're why Severus left a few days ago, he went to get you." James pieced things together, Harry remained silent but just looked at his would-be father "It must have been really bad for him to risk leaving like that. I showed him how to get out, you know."  
"You did?... Thanks."

Harry sneezed at that moment.

James looked at Harry critically "You're going to get sick, you didn't even put a robe or slippers on."

"You sound like a grown-up."

James scowled, "Yeah? Well, let's keep that between us then, eh."

A sound of a door opening at the base of the stairs to the owlery snapped the boys out of the moment. "Quick," James whispered, "get on my back. I'll get you back to your room."

Harry climbed on and the older boy threw his invisibility cloak over both of them just as Filch came up the stairs.

"Who's up here?!" he called out, shining his lantern on rows of owls that screeched angrily at him for shining light in their eyes. One coughed up a pellet onto his head.

Harry tried not to giggle as James slowly inched past the grumpy squib.


	28. Chapter 28

**Hello everyone, sorry about the delay in getting this latest chapter out. I was really sick and sitting at my computer to type this up was just not going to happen. I'm feeling much better now though. So here you go. Please drop a comment for me, I love reading them.**

Closing the office door, Severus sighed, he was lucky that the Headmaster had decided to be lenient, but he wasn't out of the woods yet, his head of house, although generally kind and soft-spoken was equally formidable if angered. The revolving staircase slowly brought him down to the main entrance to the headmaster's office and he headed on his way towards the dungeons to see Professor Slughorn.

"SEVERUS TOBIAS SNAPE!" a sharp voice called out to him as he passed by the great hall. Severus cringed slightly at the sound of the voice before forcing himself into a semi-neutral but pleasant expression.

"Hi, Lily."

"Don't you 'Hi Lily' me, Severus!" she slapped his arm "Do you have any idea how worried I was?" she slapped him again and he recoiled slightly, she hit hard. "Well? Do you? The whole school was looking for you. You could have told someone!" she smacked his arm again for emphasis

"Stop hitting me!" Severus snapped back and crossed his arms "I TRIED to tell Dumbledore and McGonagall"

"You told them you were leaving the castle?"

"Well, no."

Lily smacked Severus again.

"Ms. Evans! I don't know what is going on here but we do NOT hit! You're a PREFECT. I expect you to set an example. Detention tomorrow night." Professor McGonagall scolded. Lily had the good grace to be embarrassed and apologized quickly. "Severus, I believe Professor Slughorn is waiting for you in his office, best be off."

Severus nodded and left quickly. He reached the dungeon office much faster than he would have liked, taking a deep calming breath, raised his hand and knocked on the heavy door.

"Enter."

Entering the dimly lit office the boy looked around. Slughorn was standing near the fireplace watching the flames as he nursed a drink. Severus wasn't really sure what type of mood his head of house would be in, he decided to wait by the desk respectfully with his hands clasped behind him as he awaited the inevitable dressing down.

Slughorn glanced over to the boy, he gave a little smirk as he pondered how to approach the issue.

"Severus, I have been a teacher here at Hogwarts for nearly fifty years. Never, and I do mean never, have I had to go to the headmaster and report that I'd misplaced a student."

"I'm sorry, sir."

"Do not interrupt me!" Severus bowed his head apologetically "Did you even stop to consider that we need to know where you are. At. All. Times?"

Severus wasn't sure if he was supposed to answer or if the question was rhetorical. He remained silent until Slughorn slammed his palm down on the desk, "Well?"

"Yes, sir."

"Yes, sir? So you thought about it and then just decided NOT to tell someone you were going to go off on an adventure to the other side of Great Britain."

"I mean no, sir."

Slughorn just gave him a disbelieving look.

"I'm really sorry, sir."

"Did the Headmaster punish you."

"No, sir. He gave me 20 points." Severus couldn't help add with a bit of cheek.

"Did he now?" Slughorn shook his head "I want three feet by next Monday on what you did wrong and what you could have done differently. Now sit."

Severus sat in one of the high wingback chairs in front of the desk "Tea?" Slughorn offered and handed the very confused boy a cup.

"I stopped by your home while out looking for you. You were n't there of course but I did meet your father. I'm sorry to say I'm a bit concerned about his behavior. Is he… what I mean to say is… does he hurt you... Or Harry?"

Severus stared into his cup of tea. Tears came to his eyes as he thought about the last few days, the last few months with Harry, and the years past.

"He… He's always been strict. Never tolerated anything really, especially after mum… but he was doing his best, you know? He actually softened up a bit when Harry came to live with us. The last couple months though Harry's been writing to me, saying dad was being mean. I thought he was just exaggerating. Trouble seems to find him. But his last note seemed more… desperate. And I just knew I had to get to him. Then dad came home and…"

"Yes, I read Madam Pomfrey's report and got the general gist of what happened. Severus," Slughorn took a sip of his drink trying to decide how to proceed "when I went to your home and your father was there, he had a wand, and tried to curse me with it."

Severus stared at his head of house. "I'm quite alright, he missed. There's never been a case like this, you know, a muggle being able to use a wand. I was able to stupify him and he is now at St. Mungos. No doubt giving the healers a difficult time. "

Severus smirked at the idea of his father dealing with a bunch of healers.

"Well then, here you are." Slughorn handed Severus his wand and the teen took it as his cue to leave.

"Good night, sir. I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you."

"Apology accepted, I'm glad you and Harry are safe now."

/

Monday morning came much too soon for Harry, after his late night excursion and the nightmare he hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep and was more than a little cranky when Madam Pomfrey woke him. He perked up over breakfast though, french toast and bacon being a contributing factor. Most of the upper year Slytherins hadn't arrived yet but Severus was there, Harry happily went over to join his brother.

"Dad's in St. Mungos. That's a hospital." Severus explained.

"Is he ok?" Harry asked, his mouth full of french toast.

"Obviously not." Severus drawled out in a manner very much like his future self "and don't talk with your mouth full."

The boy quickly chewed and swallowed he looked around for anyone that might be listening to them "Severus, about that journal, I have an idea why it didn't burn, and why dad's been not himself…." Harry proceeded to tell Severus some, but not all, of what he knew about the book. The older teen looked skeptical but intrigued and didn't outright dismiss the theory either.

After Harry had finished his food Madam Pomfrey escorted him to his classroom. Harry's jaw dropped as he was gently led in. Extra desks had been removed so that there was only one table and a couple of chairs. His new tutor had put up colorful posters around the room, there was even a corner for arts and crafts and a bookcase filled with colorful books. A young woman was organizing a bin containing various teaching aids. It did not look at all like a typical classroom at Hogwarts. She smiled when Madam Pomfrey and Harry entered, coming over she knelt down to introduce herself

"You must be Harry! I'm Mrs. Diggory. I'm excited to be your teacher for as long as you're here."

Harry gave her a shy "Hi, nice to meet you." as she took his hand and led him off to the table, she chattered away asking questions about what he'd read in school and what sums he was learning in math. The morning flew by and before Harry knew it, it was time for lunch.

"Alright there Harry?" Boomed Hagrid's voice "ready to give me a hand?" he asked as Harry finished up his juice.

"Yes, please!" Harry eagerly jumped off his chair to follow the giant.

"Not so fast." Madam Pomfrey stopped him, she quickly had him bundled up for the cold March weather "Now off you go. And Hagrid, don't let him get cold."

Hagrid took Harry out to the vegetable garden for a bit and then to feed the herd of thestrals. Harry wasn't surprised when he was able to see them, although Hagrid was more than a little bothered that such a young boy was able to.

At dinner Harry decided to sit with the Gryffindors, he had explained his hesitation at breakfast to Severus who said he understood; although he quickly wondered if he made the right choice as Lily fixed his plate, complete with peas AND turnips. He scowled and James gave him a pitying look.

"Who's this then?" Remus Lupin asked, indicating Harry, as he sat down next to James.

"This," Lily began, "Is Harry Snape. He's Severus's younger brother. He lives across town from me."

"And this is the reason you felt it necessary to punish him with turnips?" Remus teased. Harry giggled while Lily made a face at Remus.

"McGonagall told me to make sure he eats a healthy dinner." Lily tried to explain

"And you're taking it out on Harry here cause you're in enough hot water with her already, aren't you." Sirius put in as he loaded up a plate with everything except vegetables. Lily's face turned a bright red at the mention of her upcoming detention while James and Remus attempted to hide their smirks as they focused on their food.

Harry was less discrete as he pieced it together "You… got in trouble?" he asked in disbelief.

"Well, I'm not perfect." Lily snapped, grabbed a roll and left the table.

Harry worried his lip as he watched her leave, "Is she mad at me now?"

"Nah, don't worry about it. She'll get over it soon enough." James assured him.

Remus quietly at his dinner as he watched the young boy across from him, there was something familiar about him, his scent was a lot like James, but different enough not to be a sibling. He wasn't sure what to make of it but he felt quite unsettled by it.

/

Harry's week went by surprisingly fast. Mrs. Diggory was so sweet towards him he was sure that if she asked him to jump off the astronomy tower for her, he would. By Tuesday she had put in a large comfy armchair that the two of them could comfortably sit in together to read.

Aside from a few Hufflepuffs squealing over how adorable he was when Madam Pomfrey forced him into his yellow rain gear on Wednesday, Harry had enjoyed his week immensely. His Friday flying lesson proved more challenging this time around, at only 8 he wasn't strong enough to control the broom as well, but Madam Hooch had been very impressed and kept asking if he'd flown before. To which he had denied vehemently.

/

"Hey, Severus! There's quidditch today!" Harry excitedly sat down Saturday morning at the Slytherin table and began loading up his plate.

"So?"

"So aren't you excited?"

"It's Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff, why should I care?"

Harry quickly swallowed down the porridge he had in his mouth "Well," he said carefully "I thought we could go and sit with Lily."

That got Severus's attention as he raised his eyebrow and smirked slightly, Harry certainly knew his weaknesses. "Fine." he agreed as nonchalant as possible, Harry jumped upped and whooped with excitement "but I'm not cheering for either team." Severus tacked on. Harry rolled his eyes knowing that between himself and Lily, Severus would likely end up with a face painting of a lion at the very least.

/

"And Potter with the quaffle, he dodges a bludger, and GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLL." some unknown announcer commentates and the stands of red and gold erupted into cheers. Harry jumps up into Lily's arms as they scream their support. Severus claps politely but Harry can tell he's enjoying the match more than he'll let on. Harry's eyes shine brightly with the excitement of the game, he would never in a million years believe he'd be able to watch his dad play.

Then the small boy saw it, the small golden snitch, he pulled on Lily's sleeve and pointed it out to her, the seekers hadn't seen it yet as play continued to focus on the other players.

"Looks like Seeker Davenport from Hufflepuff spotted the snitch, and there she goes…" the commentator continued as a blur of yellow chased after the little gold ball, the Gryffindor seeker right behind her.

"Excellent play by Gryffindor beaters, their bludger threw Davenport off the trail."

Hufflepuff booed. A moment later the crowd gasped as the Gryffindor seeker spiraled down towards the ground, pulling up a moment later with her hand held high.

"She's caught the snitch!" Harry squealed a moment before the commentator did.

"..And that's the end of it. Gryffindor seeker Hughes catches the snitch and Gryffindor wins 190 to 70."

"Did you see the way she pulled out of the spiral at the last second like that?" Harry excitedly babbled to Severus as they headed down out of the stands. He nodded and groaned inwardly, just great, Harry was going to be quidditch obsessed, just what he needed. He rubbed his face hoping the red and gold face paint Harry and Lily had forced on him would come off easily.


	29. Chapter 29

**Wow, over 500 followers! I'm just, wow, thank you all so very much. I never would have thought that so many of you would enjoy this story. So thank you so so much.**

 **I finally found a picture that I think goes well with this story. I know, its from 'IT' but I think he looks a bit like a young Harry.**

 **Anyway, thank you all for your reviews, likes, follows, etc. I hope you enjoy this next chapter. Please leave some feedback!**

Three weeks…. It had been three weeks since Severus and Harry had been brought back to Hogwarts. The time had gone both surprisingly fast and impossibly slow. Severus rubbed his chest, it felt tight and hard to breathe, he bounced his leg with nervous energy unable to completely suppress his anxiety. He and Harry weren't sure what was going on with dad. Harry was completely convinced that dad was possessed by Lord Voldemort, it seemed a bit far fetched to Severus. How could someone be possessed by someone alive, it didn't make any sense to him. Taking a deep breath he bent over his potions texts and scribbled down notes, that at least would look like he was focused on the lecture. He already knew the material anyway, he always did, the class was more of a review than anything. Resting his head on his hand he continued to ignore his professor in favor of the notes he was making in the margins of the book, he had been working on learning to create his own spells and was almost certain this one would work he just needed a safe way to test it. The scraping of chairs and his classmates shutting books and the general sound of movement in the classroom brought Severus back to reality, he quickly closed his books and packed his bag, he nodded to Lily to go on without him.  
"Professor?" when Slughorn looked up Severus continued "has there been any word about my father? Harry's really worried about him." he refused to admit how much he was also terrified he'd never get his dad back.  
Professor Slughorn frowned and shook his head "I'm sorry, Severus. I haven't heard anything new, but I shall check in with Madam Pomfrey, she has connections at St. Mungos and can probably find out more."  
"Thank you, Sir." Severus turned to go, he pressed open the heavy wooden door but before he stepped out Slughorn called to him again.  
"And Severus, I am aware you know the material, but I would appreciate if you tried to pay attention rather than deface your textbooks in the future."  
Severus whispered a "yes sir." before leaving.

Professor Slughorn shook his head. Severus was one of the most gifted potions students he'd ever taught, the boy had so much potential. He considered briefly extending an invitation to his next Slug Club event before frowning and deciding against it. Severus was gifted, true, but he lacked other qualities needed to be truly great, charisma being one of them.

/

Harry absolutely adored Mrs. Diggory, after three weeks of her working with Harry, never scolding him just patiently explaining things, sometimes multiple times till he understood, Harry was finally up to his grade level with his work. No one had ever spent that much time with him making sure he understood. Dad would explain something, once, twice if he thought it was complicated, but that was it, and none of his primary teachers had ever invested their time and energy on the kid with the 'delinquent' label, even though he'd never been one. The young woman showered him with praise and hugs, two things he'd been starved for in both lifetimes. Harry wasn't sure if this Mrs. Diggory was Cedric's mother, there could be more than one Mrs. Diggory he reasoned. Although even with this sound eight-year-old logic the pit in his stomach when he'd look at his teacher and thought of Cedric would occasionally still clench and he'd feel slightly ill at what the future may hold for her and her family.  
"Are you a mum?" He asked one day while they sat on the big reading chair, his big green eyes looked up as innocently as he could willingly make them.  
"Not yet. Why?"  
"I think you'll make a great mum," Harry said softly as he leaned up against the woman and turned the page of the book they had been reading. "Cedric will be lucky to have you," Harry said this last part so quietly to himself he didn't think the woman could hear him. She gasped as she looked down at the mop of unruly hair next to her.  
"Harry, what did you just say?"  
"Oh, nothing."  
"You said 'Cedric'."  
"Mmm, what's this word say?" Harry pointed to a longer looking word in the book in front of them to change the subject he did NOT mean for her to hear him say that. Mrs. Diggory wasn't able to shake the funny feeling she had gotten from Harry that day. 'Cedric' she thought to herself.. 'Not a bad name'

/

Harry sat on his bed coloring, it was Saturday, and it was early, just barely 6:30. He was pretty sure he was one of only a handful of people awake this early, he couldn't help it though, Madam Pomfrey made him go to bed at 8:30 and his young body just woke up early. He remembered sleeping in on Saturdays till 10 or 11 sometimes, but that was when he was a teenager and with that the superpower of sleeping in. It was weekend mornings especially when he missed the telly and the morning kids shows curled up on the couch with a bowl of overly sugary cereal. He loved Hogwarts, but being the only 8-year-old in the castle wasn't really much fun, he didn't have the freedom to wander like the older kids, and even the first years didn't want him tagging along. Severus and Lily were usually busy studying and didn't have much time for him. He grabbed the black crayon and scribbled across the page in anger. He wanted to go home, he missed his bed and his dad.  
A noise caught Harry's attention, footsteps walking through the hospital wing to Madam Pomfrey's office. Peeking out the door he saw Professor Slughorn go into the little room. Curious as to what the old potions master was here for, Harry padded over and listened at the not quite closed door.  
"The boy is worried about his father, have you heard anything?"  
"He's comatose right now. He doesn't have a magical core, the healers have had to resort to muggle methods, something about tube feeding, it's absolutely barbaric."  
"How long?"  
"A week, maybe two. Albus has been working on finding a way to bring him back, he hasn't wanted to let the boys know how serious it is, doesn't want them to worry just yet….."  
Harry had heard enough, tears streamed down his face, he had told Dumbledore exactly how to destroy the diary, he didn't understand what was taking so long. Wiping the tears from his cheeks Harry went back to his room and got dressed. With a new found determination Harry knew what he had to do, he just wished he had a wand.

/

It took Harry a while to get his bearings, he hadn't walked around Hogwarts much on his own, someone was almost always with him, but he still remembered enough to make his way down to the second-floor girls bathroom. If Dumbledore wasn't going to take care of that diary after all this time Harry was going to do it himself. The corridors had been empty, the students all still asleep and the adults in the school enjoying the few hours of peace before Hogwarts awakened. Harry glanced around quickly before pushing open the girls bathroom door. The bathroom looked exactly the same as he remembered it.  
"You're a boy!" A pigtailed ghost with glasses swooped over and got right in Harry's face.  
"Well spotted," Harry answered sarcastically.  
Myrtle frowned "You're little. You've got to be the smallest firstie ever."  
Harry made a face at the negative ghost and then ignored her as he went over to the last sink. It didn't take long for Harry to find the small snake carving on the tap. He whispered in parseltongue to open then stepped back as he heard and felt the large bricks below start to turn and shift opening up the entrance to the chamber.  
"You're going to be in SO much trouble," Myrtle told Harry matter-of-factly.  
"Yeah, I know," Harry mumbled, he sat down on the edge and prepared to go in. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before pushing off.

/

Remus slowly walked down the stairs to go to breakfast, it was close to the new moon which for Remus was the best time of the month. His energy was at its peak and he was usually up early on these days, not needing as much sleep to recover as he did near the full moon. He didn't even bother trying to wake the other marauders anymore, he knew nothing would rouse them from their sleep on a Saturday except perhaps lunch. An unusual scent filled his sensitive nose, and it wasn't breakfast. It smelled like … James, but not James. That could only mean one other person: Harry. Remus knew Madam Pomfrey usually brought Harry down for breakfast around 7:30, it was too early, and this wouldn't be the route anyway. Curiosity got the better of the young wolf and he followed his nose. He saw Harry around the corner, he pushed back and flattened himself against the flagstones to not be seen when Harry glanced around. Remus looked back just in time to see Harry walk into the girls bathroom. The wolf followed the young boy in just in time to see Harry sitting on the edge of what appeared to be a huge hole in the floor, the boy looked ready to jump in. With his quick reflexes, Remus sprung towards Harry.

/

Harry pushed himself off the edge but he didn't fall forwards as expected, his eyes snapped open as he dangled over the opening. Someone had grabbed him by the straps of his overalls. He hung there for a moment before whoever had grabbed him hauled him backward away from the entrance which closed automatically.  
Harry spun around to see the angry face of Remus Lupin.  
"Lemme go!" Harry struggled but Remus was much bigger and stronger than he was.  
"I don't think so. Come on let's go find Severus." he grabbed Harry by the upper arm so that he had a better hold of the boy.  
Harry struggled harder at that but once Remus had successfully gotten him down to the main floor of the castle Harry realized his attempts at freedom were in vain he stopped and allowed Remus to pull him along, only occasionally testing the teen's grip to see if there was any give. There wasn't.  
Lily and James were heading down to the great hall for breakfast. Remus was surprised to see James awake already but he suspected Lily had something to do with it.  
"Hey, what are you doing with my little brother?"  
Remus turned towards the sound of the angry Slytherin who was storming towards him, the wolf took a breath and stood firm, he sensed Lily and James behind him and was thankful for their back up. He and Severus hadn't been on very good terms since earlier in the year when Sirius had played his little joke on Severus and he didn't feel like a duel this early in the morning. He let go of Harry who took his opportunity to find safety by Severus.  
"Well? Why were you dragging him around like that?" Severus asked protectively as he looked over his brother. Harry had put on a little pout and puppy dog eyes as if he were completely innocent in all this.  
"I found him going into the girls bathroom on the second floor." Remus started. Severus looked down at Harry who, surprisingly, wasn't denying it.  
"He was about to jump into some tunnel that was in there."  
"There's no tunnel in that bathroom," Lily interjected.  
"Yes, there was. And Harry was about to jump right into it. I pulled him back just in time."  
"Harry?" Severus asked warily, "Is that true?"  
Harry only nodded and was taken by surprise when Severus spun him to the side and landed a heavy smack on his bottom. Lily sucked in her breath.  
"Ow!" Harry pulled away and rubbed his backside. He couldn't believe it, Severus had actually smacked him.  
"Start talking," Severus said in a way that reminded Harry very much of the man his brother would one day be, intimidating and scary.  
The boy took a breath and explained that he heard Madam Pomfrey tell Slughorn that dad wasn't doing well, but that he knew how to destroy the diary that was causing all the issues. And what he needed was in that chamber. He decided to leave out the lore of the chamber of secrets, or the fact that there was a live basilisk living there.  
"And so you thought you'd just go in there, not tell anyone, just go in there by yourself, without any way of defending yourself, and you didn't even bring a light. Did I miss anything?" Severus ground out, he was furious with his brother.  
"No," Harry said in a small voice when it was put that way it sounded like a very stupid thing to do indeed. "But I have to go."  
"No."  
"But…"  
"Harry, if you try and go in there again I'll put you over my knee myself." Severus threatened. He was so close to losing his dad, he couldn't lose Harry too.  
"I have to Severus, I'm the only parselmouth here, no one else could go in and open it."  
"And you really think what's in there will destroy this diary and save dad?"  
"I know it is."  
Severus was quiet for a long time, he studied Harry, and then looked up at Lily, James, and Remus before pressing his lips together and took a breath.  
"Fine, I'm coming with you."  
"No, you can't."  
"Well, then you're not going," Severus said with some finality.  
"I'm coming too," James said.  
Harry closed his eyes for a moment "Do you know what Dumbledore will do to you both when we get caught?"  
The fact that Harry had said "when" and not "if" was not lost on anyone there. James and Severus paled and glanced at each other, they were both acutely aware of what would happen, after all, it wouldn't be the first time for either of them.  
"What?" Lily asked looking between the two boys before it dawned on her. "I'm coming too," she said firmly, she wasn't going to shy away in fear of the danger or the punishment.  
"No, Lily, it's too dangerous."  
"And when we get back they'll kill us."  
The redhead squared her shoulders and looked at the boys "I'm coming with you. And that's final."  
James and Severus looked at the determined look on her face and nodded, there would be no convincing her otherwise.  
Remus had absolutely no desire to join in the excursion "Uh, Harry? Where is the diary now?"  
"I think it's in Dumbledore's office."  
Remus and James looked at each other "Sirius." they stated, he would be their best bet at getting their hands on the diary. He was a master pickpocket and spent so much time in Dumbledore's office already. It should be no trouble for the boy to locate the diary.  
"Alright, after some breakfast then," said James, thinking of his stomach as it rumbled loudly, the others agreed and headed into the great hall. None of them noticed someone else lurking in a nearby alcove.


	30. Chapter 30

**Thank you all for following along with this story. I hope you enjoy this next chapter and please leave me some feedback.**

"So let me get this straight," Sirius said over breakfast "you all want me and Remus, to break into Professor Dumbledore's office to steal some book, for Snivellus? No. No way am I putting my arse on the line for him." Sirius crossed his arms.  
"Please Sirius. It's to help them get their dad back." Lily begged.  
"Give me one good reason." the brooding 6th year snapped back.  
"Because…" Remus started "You owe him. After that prank, you pulled."  
"I got my arse caned for that, I couldn't sit for a week! And got kicked out of my house, officially."  
"But you still didn't make it up to him, you didn't fix anything. You didn't even apologize." Remus snapped back.  
Sirius looked at Remus, then Lily who's eyes pleaded with him, then James who nodded encouragingly "I've never known you to back down from a challenge." he goaded.  
Sirius scowled "You know there is no way we're getting out of this without a beating?"  
James nodded, his expression serious. Remus and Lily just looked anxious, and slightly sick, they nodded as well.  
"Fine, but you two better not get yourselves killed." he warned Lily and James then pushed his plate away "I'm not hungry anymore." He had a bad feeling about this whole thing.

/

Three teenagers and a small boy made their way to the second-floor girls bathroom. Lily went in first to make sure it was clear, not that she thought it wouldn't be, Myrtle did a fine job keeping everyone out of there. She waved in the boys; James, Severus, and Harry entered.  
"More boys?" Myrtle asked. "Oh this one is kind of cute," she commented as she glided over to James and checked him out. James shifted uncomfortably. "And you look like someone I knew." She said critically of Severus. The teen just raised his eyebrow, that was highly unlikely he thought. Harry went right over to the sink whispered the order to open and stepped back as the grinding stones moved aside creating an opening, he was about to sit down and jump in when James pulled him back.  
"I'll go first."  
Harry nodded and moved aside for James. The boy took a breath and dropped into the dark space, moments later a faint call was heard that it was alright. Harry jumped in next, knowing what to expect made it much less scary this time around, he slid to a stop at the bottom with a crunch of little bones under his feet. Lily arrived a moment later followed shortly by Severus.

The sound of water dripping down echoed in the chamber as did each step the group took. Sounds of rodent bones crunched beneath their feet and they could hear the scurrying of little rats running away from this unusual intrusion.  
"Peter would love it," James muttered. The three teens lit their wands to have a look around, the tunnel only went in one direction, James and Harry led the way till they came to a small antechamber with a large stone door. Harry once again spoke to it in parseltongue and it opened noisily. He cringed inwardly hoping the noise of the old stone wouldn't waken the serpent that he really hoped was asleep.  
"What exactly are we looking for?" James asked.  
"An old fang, it would be pretty big, but don't touch it," Harry said simply, James shook his head, he couldn't believe he was following along in this plan by an 8-year-old. They continued to walk through the large chamber, the statue of Salazar Slytherin as large as a house looked down on them. The four children stood in awe of the room carefully looking around for a fang or tooth that Harry had described.  
Suddenly Lily screamed. The boys rushed over to see what was the matter she pointed, lying lifelessly not far from them was a giant snakeskin.  
"What the?" Severus carefully picked up a section and studied it "Is this where the fang is coming from?" he asked nervously.  
"Yup," Harry replied as if it was no big deal. He wandered off a bit to continue looking while Severus, Lily, and James exchanged nervous looks. Whatever it was they were expecting, this wasn't it.  
Severus inspected the front of the skin hoping a fang might be there. A loud crash caught his attention. "Guys something's moving over there," he said, his voice shaky. Lily, James, and Harry all joined him.  
"Ah oh." Harry breathed out "Quick everyone close your eyes, don't look at it."  
"Why what's going on? Harry?" Lily asked as the sound of something approached them, whatever it is was swimming through the water.  
"It's a basilisk." Harry whispered, "close your eyes."  
"A WHAT?!" James said loudly  
"Shhh, it can hear us, be quiet."  
"Why didn't you tell us there was a huge bloody snake in here?" James hissed.  
"I thought it'd be asleep."  
"Harry, if we survive this, I'm going to kill you." Severus ground out.  
The four children huddled together with their eyes closed listening to where the snake was, they could hear it slowly coming closer. The hissing sound was starting to get louder and suddenly Harry felt very foolish to think that coming down to the chamber again would be a good idea. He tried to speak Parseltongue to it.  
"Yousssssss notssss mysssss massssteerrrrsss, young onessssss." the serpent responded. Harry tried again but all further attempts at speaking to it were ignored by the snake as it slowly coiled around the children. The four of them could sense the snake surrounding them.  
"Stay behind me," Severus ordered as he turned towards the snake keeping his eyes shut tight, he could feel Lily and Harry at his back and James by his non-wand arm, they were all behind him. The snake lifted its head up as it hissed loudly preparing to strike  
"SECTUMSEMPRA" Severus shouted out the first thing that came to mind, the curse aimed at the snake.  
A moment later the giant basilisk screeched loudly in pain as its neck was slashed. The basilisk began to writhe from side to side, great spurts of its blood sprayed out drenching the children in it. The warm thick blood of the serpent covered the little band of adventurers from head to toe. Lily and James gripped Harry's arms to keep him upright as so much dumped down on them it was likely he'd fall right over. After what felt like a very long time a loud crash was heard only a few feet from where they were standing.  
"Don't open your eyes yet." Severus warned, "It might not be dead yet."  
They waited in silence for just short of eternity, shaking. The blood began to cool on their skin.  
"Are you alive?" Harry asked the basilisk in parseltongue.  
There was no response.  
"Caedereoculus" Lily waved her wand at the snake, removing its eyes, just in case. "There it should be safe to look now."  
"I'll look first." James volunteered, Harry's stomach dropped at the idea of any of them risking to take a look at what might be instant death but before he could object James had looked "It's alright, it's dead. Nice job with the eyes Lil. And you too Severus, that was… interesting."  
Harry looked up and shuddered at the destruction he saw, the head of the snake was less than 5 feet from them, they could have been killed just by its head falling on them.  
Harry started to cry "I'm so sorry, guys. This was a really bad idea." Tears flowed out of his eyes leaving two clean trails on his otherwise blood covered face. Severus pulled his brother into a hug.  
"What's done is done, we choose to come with you, I could have stopped you, and I didn't," he said to Harry. Severus was shaking like a leaf. Harry collected himself and looked at the three teens in front of him, covered head to toe in blood. It reminded Harry of a movie he had seen where a girl had blood dumped all over her.

"Let's get this fang and get out of here," Lily said breaking the moment. She went over to the head of the creature and using some clever charms was able to remove the fang without touching it. James meanwhile transfigured a rock into a wooden box. Lily carefully levitated the fang into the box then put it in her bag. "Let's go," she said quickly. Harry couldn't help but admire how strong she sounded, a great bloody snake just tried to eat them for lunch and she seemed completely unphased by it. James and Severus seemed more perturbed about the situation. Lily led the way out and as they left the chamber the large stone door closed behind them with a loud clang that echoed loudly. The noise caused a rumbling deep within the chamber.  
"What's that?" asked Harry as he looked around.  
"I think it's collapsing. Run!" James ordered as some small rock started to fall. James grabbed Harry's hand and began to pull him but Harry's shorter legs couldn't keep up with his long strides and he tripped and fell.  
"Get on," Severus ordered as he knelt down and Harry quickly climbed onto Severus's back, the boys ran after Lily who was still in the lead, James cast a few shield charms to block the rock from falling on him, Severus, and Harry. The shoot that they had slid down to get into the chamber now was proving to be difficult to climb back up. Severus set Harry down at the base, there was no way he could climb up with Harry on him. James began to slowly climb up what was basically a very steep slide, it probably wouldn't have been as bad if they weren't completely covered in blood which made gripping anything a challenge. A rope would have been helpful he grumbled to himself. This spontaneous adventure had been very poorly planned out.  
Harry struggled up the slope next, a few times he lost his grip and slid backward into Lily. He hadn't even thought about how to get out, the first time in the chamber Fawkes had flown out with him, he hadn't even thought about how many feet below the castle they really were. The rumbles and shaking of the chamber didn't help the process.  
Finally, James reached the bathroom and climbed out, he quickly turned and reached down to help pull Harry up, and then Lily, and finally Severus was pulled out just as the slope gave way. They sat on the floor of the bathroom trying to catch their breath, that was close.  
"Haha! We made it!" James said with a big grin, the peril of the adventure momentarily forgotten. He looked at Harry who was chalk white, despite being covered in dark blood, the young boy was looking at something past James.  
"Lily?" a quiet voice said, it sounded very sad and disappointed.  
"Professor Slughorn." Lily gasped at seeing her favorite professor, she looked away, ashamed to be caught breaking so many rules.  
Harry thought he might be sick, standing in front of him was not only Professor Slughorn who looked nauseous from the sight of them, but Professor McGonagall, and worst of all a very very angry Headmaster with his hands on his hips and not the slightest sign of the twinkle in his eye. A movement behind the professors caught his attention, a little lump of a boy with beady eyes, Peter quickly scurried away. Harry scowled, he had a feeling Peter had somehow tipped off the teachers to their plan. The others hadn't noticed him there.  
"Myrtle!" Dumbledore called for the young ghost.  
"Yes, Headmaster?" she floated out from her cubicle.  
"Were you planning to let me know my students entered the chamber?"  
If Myrtle could blush she would have been "Well I just thought that if they died they could share my bathroom." her voice whiny as if she was disappointed that they survived.  
"Begone" Dumbledore roared at the girl who quickly dove into her toilet with a squeak. Harry was sure there was a clap of thunder or a rumbling cloud nearby as the Headmaster spoke, like the Greek gods when they were angered. He might have imagined it but it sounded like the windows shook slightly. Suddenly his trainers seemed to be the most interesting thing in the world.  
"Headmaster, I found these two trying to get into your office," Filch said, dragging in Remus and Sirius. Dumbledore turned briefly to Argus and acknowledged him. Sirius and Remus stood sheepishly next to the caretaker who had each one of their upper arms in a vice-like grip.  
"Thank you, Argus." Dumbledore said and turned back to the four "and I suppose their crime is somehow linked to you four. You've got some explaining to do."  
Harry felt a shiver of fear go down his spine, he'd never seen the old wizard so angry.  
"Not until I've given them a thorough assessment and make sure they aren't injured." Madam Pomfrey interjected having arrived with Filch "And a bath." She added after seeing the mess.  
The Headmaster nodded, that was probably for the best else he might lose complete control.  
Harry, Lily, James, and Severus followed Madam Pomfrey to the hospital wing. Filch bitching after them about bloody footprints.


	31. Chapter 31

**Fair warning, this chapter isn't gonna be everyone's cup of tea. That said, I do hope most of you enjoy it. Thank you as always for the reviews and comments.**

Harry placed his head on Lily's shoulder as they waited on one of the hospital beds. Madam Pomfrey had assessed the four relatively quickly, although not without a fair amount of disapproving sounds. James had then been sent to take a bath first. There was only one tub adjacent to the hospital wing, the one in Harry's bathroom. It would be a while before the four of them were cleaned up enough to be released. Harry felt a bit guilty as he looked down at the now pink sheets, the house elves were not going to be happy doing the laundry. His eyelids started to get heavy as Lily held him and it wasn't long before Harry succumbed to sleep.

Severus shook his head, "How can he sleep when we're in this much trouble?" the teen wondered.

Lily smiled and brushed the hair off of Harry's forehead, "That's probably why exactly, he's overwhelmed. James is done, you go next, I don't want to wake Harry."

It was sometime later that everyone was cleaned and fed and bandaged up if needed before Madam Pomfrey finally directed them to go see the Headmaster.

/

Remus and Sirius were already waiting when the others entered the office. Professor McGonagall was also present.

The older boys, all having spent their fair share of time in the office lined up and stood at parade rest, their shoulders back and eyes straight ahead. They knew they were in deep. Lily stood at the end with Harry in front of her, she placed her hands on his shoulders and gave a little squeeze. Harry wasn't sure if she did this more to comfort him or herself, he could feel her hands trembling slightly.

The Headmaster was silent for a very long time as he looked over the 5 teens and the young boy in front of him. He had since calmed down but only slightly.

"Harry," he began "why don't you begin, and explain to me in detail what just happened."

Harry bit his lip and swallowed nervously before beginning with overhearing the conversation between Professor Slughorn and Madam Pomfrey, his attempt at entering the chamber alone, Remus stopping him, the new plan to enter as a group. Occasionally Dumbledore would hold up his hand for Harry to stop and would direct questions at the other guilty members of the party. Asking for their version of events. Albus couldn't remember a time as headmaster when he had been this enraged over the actions of his students.

"Lily, you have this fang?" the headmaster asked, Lily, handed over the box. "None of you were so foolish as to physically handle this I hope?" he asked as he glanced in the box, but did not touch the tooth.

"No, sir," Lily answered quietly, at least they'd done that right.

"So let me summarize," Dumbledore began in a quiet voice that was much more menacing than if he had yelled "You, Harry, eavesdropped on a conversation between two adults that was none of your business. You then surmised based off of only a portion of that conversation that your father would die soon."

Harry shuffled anxiously, he didn't like where this was going.

"You then decided to go into the chamber of secrets, we won't even go into how you knew about it when Remus here had enough sense to stop you. You then managed to convince the others to accompany you in this little plot. Remus, Lily, you are PREFECTS, you should have known better than to go along with this ridiculous idea by a child half your age."

Remus and Lily shifted uncomfortably at the headmaster's harsh tone.

But the headmaster was far from done with his lecture "Somehow in your enlightened scheme you thought it wise for Remus and Sirius to attempt to break into my office to steal a dangerous object from my care. While you four went into a secret chamber that no one else can access."

Dumbledore stopped pacing in front of Harry. "I thought, Harry, I had made it clear that you were not to try and go in the chamber. Am I correct?"

"Yes, sir," Harry said, his mouth felt like sandpaper.

"And did I not also tell you to let the adults handle the diary?"

"Yes, sir," he whispered in reply, he was trying very hard not to cry right about now.

"Mm," Dumbledore nodded and continued pacing "so you four thought it would be best to try and find a way to destroy the book yourselves rather than trust the adults in charge to handle it, and in the process killed an innocent 1000- year old basilisk."

"Innocent?" James spoke out.

"Yes, Mr. Potter. It was innocent, you intruded on its home, it has been living under the school, quite peacefully for a millennium, until four foolish, disobedient children intruded on its home and killed it."

Lily sobbed at the realization of what they had done.

"Speaking of killing it, Severus, "Severus' head snapped towards the sound of the headmaster's voice "what exactly did you use?"

"Um, sectumsempra, sir."

"Sectumsempra?" Dumbledore mulled over the unfamiliar curse, deciphering the Latin "And where, may I ask, did you learn such a dark curse?"

"Icreatedit," muttered Severus.

"Try again, Mr. Snape."

"I… I created it, sir." the teen said uneasily.

"I see," Dumbledore said cooly.

"And out of all of you, the only one who didn't really want to go along with this was Sirius, which is shocking in its own right."

The headmaster took a long look at the band of miscreants in front of him "Unfortunately I see no alternative, you will all receive the maximum punishment allotted for this. Remus, Sirius, yours is slightly less as it was MERELY attempted breaking and entering and not RISKING YOUR LIVES." Even Professor McGonagall cringed at the headmaster's tone.

"In addition, two weeks on restriction. If you're not in classes or meals you'll be in your common rooms or room, in Harry's case."

There was a general uneasiness upon hearing the sentence.

"Sir, are you legally allowed to hit us? We're all of age now, except Harry of course." Sirius spoke up.

Harry thought for sure that Dumbledore would respond harshly at being questioned, but the man simply leaned against his desk and looked at Sirius for a long time.

"You do have a point, Mr. Black. As adults, you are not bound to the authority of the school. You do have a choice in the matter. As students that are of age, choosing to attend Hogwarts, you willingly submit yourselves to my authority regarding discipline. You are, of course, free to withdraw from Hogwarts at any time and seek your fortune in the world. But if I may be so bold, it would be unwise to follow one foolish plan with a second. With only an OWL education level your employment opportunities will be somewhat limited. However, if any of you wish to withdraw now a house elf will assist you in packing your things. Did anyone wish to pursue that path?" The five teenagers quickly shook their heads.

"Very well then. Ms. Evans, please go with Professor McGonagall, she will handle your discipline." Lily gave Harry's shoulders a final squeeze before following McGonagall out of the office. Suddenly without Lily behind him, Harry felt much more nervous.

"Mr. Black, remain, the rest of you wait outside," Dumbledore ordered. James, Harry, Severus, and Remus filed out. Harry briefly saw Sirius move towards the desk and bend over it before the door slammed shut.

/

There must have been a silencing spell because no one could hear anything going on in the office as the boys waited anxiously for their doom. After some time the door opened and Sirius walked out stiffly.

"Remus, your up," he said to his friend.

"How many?" asked James, Sirius answered by holding up four fingers before moving towards the stairs, thankful that the stairs descended on their own and he wouldn't have to try and walk down them.

The office door closed again as Remus entered, he emerged sometime later pale and walking slowly "James…" he said before heading to the stairs as well.

It took longer for James to come back out "Six," he muttered "Severus, he wants you next."

Harry was in tears seeing everyone else come out in so much pain, knowing it was his fault they had gone along with the ill-fated plan.

/

Severus entered the office.

"Severus, you'll get the full six for going into that chamber. However, we also have this little matter of you creating a dark curse, which as you know carries a two-stroke punishment. I'll give you a choice, you can take all eight now, or just the six and we'll handle the other two next week."

Severus blanched, eight strokes, but to heal and have to add two more in a week knowing it was coming sounded much worse. He swallowed hard "I'll take the eight, sir. Sir? You're not going to cane Harry are you?" he added, worried for the little boy standing outside the office door.

"No, Severus, I won't cane Harry. He'll get a first years punishment." Severus nodded, a paddle hurt, but it wasn't a cane. Still, Harry was only 8, much younger than the normal 11 or 12-year-old first year. It would be a severe punishment for the little boy.

/

It was a long time before Severus stumbled out of the office. "I don't think I'll be at dinner, Harry," he said as he lurched towards the stairs. Harry watched as his brother slowly disappeared from view then turned to see Dumbledore standing by the door gesturing for him to enter.

With the slow steps of a condemned man, Harry trudged into the office and stood in front of the desk. He was far too small to bend over it, so he awkwardly waited for instructions.

"Was it worth it, Harry?" Dumbledore asked gently.

Harry shrugged, "We have the fang now, sir, we can destroy the diary, and then my dad will be ok."

Professor Dumbledore sighed and went around to his desk, he opened a drawer and pulled something out which he dropped unceremoniously on the desk.

"The diary!" Harry said with surprise, it was destroyed, "But how?"

"Harry, there is more than one way to destroy a dark object like this. Don't you think that with my many years I might have been able to figure it out, with the assistance of other adults, without needing children to put their lives at risk to do so?"

Tears spilled out of Harry's eyes, they didn't need to go into the chamber at all, it was all for nothing. He almost got his brother, and parents killed, for no reason at all.

"So my dad's going to be okay?" he choked out between sobs.

Dumbledore continued "Yes, Harry, your dad will be just fine. When we managed to destroy this book the part of Lord Voldemort possessing your father died, without a magical core to stabilize him he went into a coma. Fortunately, he was already at St. Mungos when it happened so the healers there were able to work quickly. Although they expect him to remain comatose for a couple of weeks until his body heals, he is expected to make a full recovery. We had planned to let you and Severus know today.

"Harry, I don't know what has happened in your past that makes you distrust me, and other adults for that matter, but I ask that you try, just a little bit harder to do so."

Harry could only nod, he was crying too hard, a combination of relief that Tobias would be alright, and shame that he'd convinced the others to needlessly risk their lives and their backsides for his foolish plan. It took a while for Harry to calm down enough to speak,

"I should be caned too." he finally said with a bit of a shudder.

"Yes," replied the old wizard, Harry hadn't expected the old man to agree with him "you should,... but you won't be. Your much too small and young to handle it, as it is the first year punishment will be quite harsh for you. Shall we get it over with now?"


	32. Chapter 32

**For those of you that now believe Dumbledore is like Filch or Umbridge, you are 100% wrong. Filch and Umbridge are borderline sadistic, they hate kids and want them to be in trouble. Dumbledore does not. In fact earlier in the story when Severus ran off to get Harry, Dumbledore was extremely understanding about it and didn't punish him, although running away from school is certainly a punishable offense. But he did warn Severus about what would happen next time he got himself into a dangerous situation, and he followed through. Dumbledore had no satisfaction punishing the group, but they broke some serious rules and there are consequences for that like them or not. The man has a school to run with several hundred kids to keep in line and this was a pretty standard punishment for the time.**

 **Also the Basilisk (RIP), a few of you pointed out it killed Myrtle. Yes, it did, but that was because Tom Riddle made it, for almost 1000 years it was just chilling down there in the chamber. Embrace Hagrid's view of 'monsters'.**

 **To the guest that gave me such a supportive review, thank you very much, I love that you were able to appreciate the 'realistic approach' I attempted to create.**

 **Here is the next, thank you all, enjoy.**

The intersection of two limestone bricks is a very dull thing to stare at. Although if you squint, and use a bit of imagination the grouting could look like roads in a city. Or if you look carefully there might be tiny little holes in the rocks. And if the section of brick was not smoothed down, as this section wasn't, one could pretend it was mountainous terrain on some distant planet. That is what Harry decided on as he stared at the bricks. The weekend, after his little adventure and consequential meeting with the headmaster, had been painful and uncomfortable. But mostly it was boring. Being restricted to his room except for meals was lonely and there was little to do having only a few toys and books available. Harry was used to being lonely, but he still didn't like it. Then Monday morning had come, Madam Pomfrey had left to tend to a sick Hufflepuff, and Harry took the opportunity to pick the lock to the medicine cabinet. That handy trick compliments of Fred and George Weasley. Harry quickly found a bottle of topical pain relief ointment that he wasted no time in applying to his still tender backside. He sighed in immediate relief and pocketed the bottle which he then slipped to Severus during breakfast. Severus had been very grateful and passed along the bottle to Lily, who passed it to James, who gave it to Sirius, who shared the remainder of the bottle with Remus, who disposed of the empty bottle in a nearby rubbish bin. The ointment wasn't a long term solution but it did provide a few hours of relief.

Harry soon forgot about the mornings thieving as Mrs. Diggory hugged him, lectured him, hugged him some more, and he soon felt very guilty for making the kind woman worry. Hagrid followed up the afternoon with his own lecture and disappointed looks which caused Harry to cry.

Unfortunately for Harry, Madam Pomfrey had discovered the missing bottle and upon his return to the hospital wing questioned him about it and thus promptly sentenced to the corner for what must have been hours. Actually only about 10 minutes, but when you are 8 that might as well be the same thing.

After another 10 minutes of studying the wall, Harry was allowed out to get ready for bed with the warning of any further missing potions or medicine would result in a visit with the headmaster. Harry wisely decided that should be avoided at all costs. He climbed into bed, and as he lay in the dark wondered if Professor Dumbledore had been this strict (and competent) in his original time would he have gotten into so many dangerous situations, he certainly didn't think he'd have gone looking for trouble quite as often. One trip to the headmaster's office was enough for a lifetime, thank you very much. How Severus and the Marauders managed one or two trips each year Harry didn't think he could ever understand.

/

The Slytherin common room had always been a place Severus enjoyed being. The greens, browns, and silver color scheme gave it an earthy homey feel and the giant sofas and fireplaces were nice to relax around. There were also giant windows, but being below ground they viewed the depths of the lake, much like a huge aquarium. The merpeople rarely came up to the castle, but Severus had on occasion seen a Grindylow and the tentacles of the giant squid going by. If it was sunny out the sun would come through the water and give the common room a bright greenish glow.

Severus lay sprawled out on one of the sofas idly watching out the windows. He usually didn't mind the view, but today he wished he had windows he could open and get fresh air and direct sunlight. The common room was uncomfortably quiet as he was the only one there. The early May weather was beautiful and the Hufflepuff vs Slytherin Quidditch match was currently going on. Professor Slughorn had given him a stern reminder that he wasn't to leave the common room and seeing as his arse had finally stopped hurting and now only had the remaining healing itch he didn't feel like pushing his luck.

Not feeling like studying anymore Severus pulled out the small mirror Lily had given him for his birthday, they didn't use it very often because they saw each other most of the time, but this seemed like the perfect opportunity to talk to his friend. Severus was relieved when Lily's face appeared in the mirror a moment later.

"About time!" she admonished "I tried calling you a bunch of times."

"Sorry." Severus replied sheepishly "I didn't think to check. I would have thought you'd be in the common room with the others."

Lily snorted "I think I'd rather be alone. Right now James and Sirius are having a contest on who can trump the loudest. They both decided to have beans on toast for breakfast this morning, it reeks down there, so I've escaped to my dorm."

Severus laughed, on second thought, being alone might not be too bad. "What about Remus?"

"He's as far away from them as he can get, but he's down there laughing along with them. Have you heard from Harry? Did he get in trouble on Monday for grabbing that ointment?"

"Not since breakfast today, he's bored to tears up there. At least we have our friends sometimes, he's all alone, except for Pomfrey of course, bet she's really fun to be around if you're 8. I think he got a time out and warning about the ointment though, probably would have tried to get more if he hadn't gotten caught." Severus answered, "Hey, you can't see the match from your room can you?"

Lily shook her head sadly "No the Ravenclaw tower faces the pitch, I can hear some cheering occasionally, can't make any of it out though."

The two teens continued to talk until their housemates returned from the match. Slytherin had won. Regulus Black had managed to outmaneuver the Hufflepuff seeker to clinch a narrow victory over the Badgers. Severus smiled for his friend, at least the after party would be more fun than watching the giant squid, he thought.

/

"Yes, sir….. Of course,…. He's covered in paint right now, it will just be a few minutes to get him cleaned up… Yes, sir."

Harry was doing his best to focus on his painting and not what Mrs. Diggory was saying on her floo call since it was more than obvious he was the topic of the conversation. But he had had enough of overhearing conversations he wasn't supposed to, at least for the immediate future.

"Harry?" Mrs. Diggory gently got his attention "We're going to have to cut art time a little short today."

Harry couldn't help but pout "But I'm not done."

"I'm sorry, Harry, but we've got to clean up now. You can work on it again next week, alright? Professor Dumbledore would like to see you."

At the headmaster's name, Harry felt a slight surge of panic and his eyes grew round.

"But I've been really good!"

"I know you have."

"Then why does he want to see me?" Harry had never really felt nervous about meeting with Dumbledore before, in fact, he had always enjoyed the man's company but that was before Dumbledore had actually followed through with any sort of consequence, things were different now.

"I'm not sure," Mrs. Diggory answered. Her answer was not at all comforting to the young boy.

The woman closed the paint jars and cast a few cleaning charms "There, come on, let's not keep Professor Dumbledore waiting." she held out a hand which Harry reluctantly took. He shuffled his feet behind her as she led him down the hallways and up several flights of stairs. When they approached the statue to the office Harry noticed Severus coming from the other direction.

Mrs. Diggory left the boys and they stepped on the stairs to go up "What did you do?" Severus hissed at Harry.

"Nothing!" Harry snapped back, he'd been almost perfect the last week and a half, with the exception of the stolen jar of ointment.

Dumbledore smiled when he greeted the boys, he had a definite twinkle in his eyes, the angry gleam from their last encounter was absent.

"Boys, I have some good news for you." Professor Dumbledore started, he clasped his hands in front of him and bounced happily on his toes "Your father has made excellent progress and was released earlier today."

Severus smiled with relief and Harry grinned up at him.

Dumbledore glanced behind the boys to something beyond them. Harry didn't notice the look, but Severus did and quickly turned.

"Dad." he breathed out breathlessly. Tobias stepped out of a small alcove in the back of the office.

Harry turned and saw the large man, and as happy as he was that he was alright, too much had happened the last weeks they were together. The little boy pressed himself against Severus. The teen looked down at Harry, sensing how nervous the child was he put his arm around the boy's shoulder.

"Severus." The deep baritone voice said stiffly, "Harry."

Tobias frowned down at the boy who had half hidden behind the older's leg.

"I… I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I never meant to hurt you," he said simply as tears pricked his eyes. He blinked to clear them away. Neither boy said anything, they knew he hadn't acted on his own free will, but that didn't change the fact that he had hurt both his boys, especially Harry.

"Harry," he said again, a little gentler this time "are you ready to go home?"

Harry stiffened slightly

"No," Severus interjected.

Tobias looked at his almost grown son with a combination of surprise and anger, "Boy, what did you say?"

Dumbledore looked on with apprehension, Severus's tone had taken him by surprise as well.

The teen swallowed hard "Harry isn't going home. Not yet."

"But of course he is."

"No. You hurt us, dad. You hurt Harry. He's not going back till he's ready."

"You don't make that call, son."

"I'm making it anyway." Severus stood himself up a little taller. He knew Tobias wouldn't couldn't, do anything to him with Dumbledore right there. Although Lord Voldemort no longer possessed his father, he was still an intimidating figure.

Tobias studied the boy in front of him, not a boy, a man. There was no denying it anymore, his son wasn't a child anymore. Yes, he still needed his father, and he was probably not quite finished growing yet, but Severus had grown up. He stood there unwavering as he kept himself between his father and his brother.

With a nod, Tobias conceded. "Alright, on one condition." Harry and Severus's unconsciously held their breath "any more rule breaking or little adventures that I hear about, and he's coming straight home."

Well, that was doable, probably. The boys both nodded their heads, Tobias raised an eyebrow, he couldn't hear their heads rattle after all. Severus was the first to pick up on the cue and muttered out a "Yes, sir." followed by Harry.

"Headmaster, perhaps we could arrange for some visits over the next several weeks. I think a little time spent together would be beneficial."

"Excellent suggestion, Tobias, I'll make the arrangements."

Tobias looked back down at Harry, and for some unknown reason he squatted down and opened his arms and the little boy rushed into them almost knocking him over. When the man stood up, picking Harry up as well, Severus fell onto him holding him tight.

"Are you both alright? I probably should have asked that first."

The boys smiled "Yeah, Madam Pomfrey is the best."


	33. Part 3 - Chapter 33

***slowly peeks out from under a rock and sees many expectant followers waiting patiently (or not) for an update. Sheepishly crawls out and gives a shy wave***

 **Um, hello. So, uh, sorry about, you know, disappearing like that. I really have no excuse, or at least not a good one. My muse, you see, decided to get distracted by a different fandom for a bit. And I tried to pull it back to this story but it has a mind of its own and it just would not cooperate. Naughty muse. And it felt like forcing the story just wasn't working so I thought "hey let it do its thing for a bit" so anywho, that's what happened. It did give me a chance to outline the next part a bit. Well, yeah so here's the next chapter, sorry for the ridiculously long wait. Thanks for sticking with this and I hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

Carefully remove the intact brain of the fetal pig and place slowly into the boiling solution. Crush the Goliathus beetle exoskeleton to a fine powder and add. The color should change to translucent light blue; the viscosity will be similar to cooking oil. Lower the temperature to a light simmer and wait 10 minutes before stirring.

Severus looked at the piglet and giant beetle sitting at his station and made a face, he usually liked potions, but not when it ended up being more of a biology lab and the smell of the formaldehyde made his stomach churn. He was never going to make this potion again after this was over. Lily looked slightly green herself as she tied back her hair and grabbed a scalpel. Groaning, Severus followed suit and began the process to complete the potion. It took longer than he thought it would, it was surprisingly difficult and much care was needed to ensure the ingredient wasn't damaged. Pleased with his results, Severus found that the rest of the potion was uncomplicated and managed to bottle up a sample for Slughorn with a few minutes left of the lab. The same couldn't be said for the rest of the class who turned in anything from a black oil looking potion to a fluorescent green that bubbled on its own. Professor Slughorn passed back the most recent graded exam he rattled on about the next section of the book to read and what the essay theme was for next week. Severus didn't really listen, he knew he would be able to get the notes from Lily who was scribbling down the information in her notebook, he was too busy staring at his exam. There was no grade marked, only a note 'see me after class'. Severus felt butterflies in his stomach, having to stay after for a teacher was never a good thing, at least in his experience.

As the class filtered out Severus slowly packed his bag and waited till the last student left.

"You wanted to see me, Professor?" asked Severus.

"Yes, yes, have you heard of the potions master apprenticeship program?"

Severus was caught by surprise, that was not where he expected the conversation to start. "Yes, sir, it's for those that have passed their NEWTs isn't it?"

"Typically yes, applicants have traditionally finished school. I would encourage you to apply a year early though. You've got the talent and drive to go far in this field. "

Severus was in a state of shock and didn't reply. Slughorn continued on as he handed the boy a packet of information

"The application cost can be covered by Hogwarts this way. There is an entrance exam, it's challenging, and to be honest, preparing for the entrance exam along with your others will allow you to find out if you can handle to the workload for next year. If it's too much now, well then it might be best to wait, but I have full confidence that you can handle it."

Severus nodded as he looked at the packet in his hand the first thing he noticed was the cost.

"Sir, I can't afford this. My dad doesn't make much and with everything…"

Slughorn raised his hand for Severus to stop speaking "I am aware of the situation. There are scholarships that would cover some of the cost, however, your best bet would be to find a private sponsor. Typically a sponsor would cover the costs and in return, you would work for them for a number of years after to repay them. I'll work on a list of contacts for you. Think about it."

Severus nodded and saw himself out. He would have a lot to think about and only a few days to do so as he looked at the due date of the application. Final exams to contend with and now this lengthy application for a program he couldn't afford anyway, Severus didn't know how he'd pull it off, the workload was crushing but the idea of not trying for this opportunity made him feel sick. He'd apply, he didn't think he could live with himself if he didn't at least give it his best effort.

Severus had just made it to the main floor toward the Great Hall, the smells of dinner wafted out into the hall and his stomach grumbled loudly.

"There you are!" a child's voice stopped him and he turned to see Harry racing towards him, "I've been looking everywhere for you. Dumbledore said we're going to Hogsmeade to have dinner with dad, come on."

Harry tugged on his brother's hand and pulled him towards the main doors, his excitement failed to enliven his brother at the news. Severus allowed himself to be pulled along and he silently listened to Harry jabber away on the carriage ride into the village, there was simply too much on his mind to process at the moment and he wanted more than anything to be back at the castle where, despite the numerous other children, he would have been able to enjoy his meal in peace.

"Daddy!" Harry yelled and ran up to Tobias for a hug at the platform where Hagrid had dropped them off. Tobias warm smile that had been missing for so long came back as he swung the young boy up into a hug. He pulled Severus into his arms as well, not noticing his oldest lack of enthusiasm, or perhaps, simply not commenting on it.

The trio walked towards The Three Broomsticks, Harry excitedly talking the entire time while Severus attempted to appear less distracted than he was, he wondered if he should tell his dad about the apprenticeship program.

After Harry had gone on for a while, Tobias finally was able to get a word in when the food came and Harry was otherwise occupied with his meal.

"I wanted to talk to you both about summer holidays. After everything that happened the past several months or so, well the factory let me go, I'd missed a lot of work while in the hospital and I can't exactly explain being possessed by Voldemort to muggles." Tobias took a moment to look at the boys who were listening attentively. "As you can probably guess, that means money will be even tighter than normal. I'm doing odd jobs in between looking for work, and we own the house, so that'll help. Severus, I was hoping you could pick up a few more hours at the store over the summer. I hate to put that on your shoulders."

"Yeah, dad, sure, no problem." Severus quickly answered Tobias gave his son a weak smile.

"Thank you, son."

Severus felt the application to the program in his pocket and gripped it tightly in his fist, there was no way he'd bring up that, and its cost, now. He'd find another way.

"I'll help too," Harry added, he'd done odd jobs around the neighborhood in Little Whinging since he was about six, the first time around, he was sure he could help out in Spinner's End as well.

Tobias smiled and nodded "Thank you, Harry. Both of you." he added with a sad smile

\

Squelch Harry squished his mashed potatoes down with his spoon making the satisfying sound. He huffed a sigh and leaned his head on his hand then stirred some peas into the mix. He had a strong feeling as if someone was boring through his head and he glanced up seeing Professor McGonagall gave him a disapproving glare.

"Eat, don't play." she mouthed at him.

Harry sighed and grudgingly shoved a spoon full of the mashed potatoes into his mouth.

The Gryffindor table was quickly filling up with students, however, most of the upper-class students were missing, most of them holed up away with last minute studying. A few were even sitting exams already for subjects like Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies.

"Hey, Harry. Have you seen Sev around lately?" Lily asked as she and James came in and sat down with Harry as he finished his pudding.

The boy shook his head miserably. He'd barely seen Severus since the day he, Severus, and Tobias had had dinner together in Hogsmeade and that had been several weeks ago. The moody teenager had taken studying for exams to a new level of insane, surpassing even Hermione level of neurosis.

"I'm sure he'll come around after exams are over. Although this is a bit extreme even for Sev." Lily mentioned as she began to fill her plate. Harry smirked as he watched James grab the bowl of chicken wings and dump its entire contents onto his plate.

"McGonagall is giving you the stink eye, James," Harry whispered when he noticed the professors pursed lips and serious expression as she watched the deplorable table manners of several of her Gryffindors. James shrugged and tossed a chicken bone into the bowl.

/

The glass eye dropper held six drops of colloidal silver which Severus slowly added to the potion he was working on. A small seventh droplet fell in after the sixth. A fume of green, sulfuric smoke erupted into the boy's face. Severus stepped back coughing and sputtering, his eyes burned and tears streamed down his face. The string of curses he let out would have landed a bar of soap in his mouth for an hour if Tobias had heard them. He bowed his head in frustration and slammed his fists onto the table, he wanted this to work more than anything else.

"Severus." a deep voice spoke out. It was firm but not harsh. Severus turned to see Professor Dumbledore standing by the door. His blue eyes looked concerned as he studied the exhausted and stressed out teen in front of him.

"I think perhaps this is too much for you.."

"No! No, please, sir. It's not. I just.."

Dumbledore held up his hand and Severus snapped his mouth shut, his pleas and arguments desperately wanting to escape but unable to.

"I haven't seen you at dinner all week. You are exhausted. If you can not take care of yourself properly as well as handle the load I will have to insist that you wait till next year."

Severus shook his head frantically the tears pouring out of his eyes were no longer a physical reaction to the fumes but instead frustrated desperation.

Albus Dumbledore looked at Severus, in his many years as a teacher and headmaster there had only been a small handful of students with the passion and dedication to a subject like Severus had shown and he did not want to stifle that. Still, he could not allow any of his students to neglect their own health and wellbeing, even for something important to them.

The elderly wizard clapped his hands once and a tray appeared on a nearby lab table, the smell of that evening's dinner wafted towards Severus and his stomach growled so loud that Dumbledore could hear it.

"I must insist that you eat and then go to bed. You are not to come back here until," the man thought for a moment "shall we say, 9 o'clock and have eaten breakfast." Severus is about to argue the unfairness of it but the headmaster continues, "If I feel you are not taking proper care of yourself until the end of the school year I will revoke the application. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," Severus responded, he is both nervous and relieved. Dumbledore is allowing him to continue with the application but with the new restrictions, he's afraid he won't complete it in time.

The old man leaves with a final stern look. Severus sighs and sits down at the other lab table and removes the warming cover from the tray. The roast beef, potatoes, and two different vegetables fill the plate, pumpkin juice, and a small slice of fruit pie for dessert. He also notices a small note on the tray "I expect you to finish your meal. ~APWBD"

"Enough initials there, Mr. Bossy," Severus grumbled before tucking in. By the time Severus finishes his meal he is sure his stomach is going to burst and he's exhausted, as if he wasn't before, he barely makes it to his dorm and collapsed on the bed and sleeps for 10 solid hours waking up just after 9 in the morning. He's convinced the headmaster put a sleeping-draught in his juice.


	34. Chapter 34

**My dear readers,**

 **I am so so very sorry it has taken me such a long time to get this last chapter out to you all. I've been working on it. Its been a slow go, obviously. But here we are, I do hope you like it. As always I love to hear your thoughts on it and I hope it won't take me such an obscenely long time to get the next chapter done.**

* * *

There is a steady rhythm on a train. Its movement side to side follows the same constant pattern, the gentle clacking of the wheels as is passed over the evenly spaced ties. Knowing where it was going and how long it would take to get there. Consistent. Severus leaned his head on the window and gazed out at the passing countryside, for the first time in weeks the comfort of the steady movements lulled him into a trance and he forgot about the constant knot in his stomach of anxiety and uncertainty. He had written to every possible contact no matter how obscure that had anything to do with potions. So far there had only been one return owl with a "not interested" response.

"Severus!" someone yelled. Startled Severus looked over to find Lily, Harry, and James giving him concerned looks. "Are you alright?" Lily asked.

Severus nodded, "I'm fine," and turned to look out the window again.

Lily looked at Harry and James with a frown, she'd never seen Severus isolate himself so completely everyone thought that once finals were over that Severus would snap out of it, but that did not seem to be the case.

Sirius and Peter re-entered the compartment laden with sweets from the trolley. Peter had noticed that Harry had warmed up to everyone else but him, and was desperately trying to win the young boys approval, he offered Harry a chocolate frog, the younger boy reluctantly took it... No one else had noticed Harry's subtle disapproval of the Gryffindor and even Peter couldn't quite figure out why he cared what an 8-year-old thought of him, a now of age wizard going into his final year at Hogwarts. Sirius threw a licorice wand at Severus which ended up hitting him in the side of the head. Severus scowled and muttered under his breath before pulling open the wrapper and shoving the end of the candy into his mouth. The marauders and Harry and Lily laughed. Harry felt nothing but relief as he realized that a year ago the same incident would have resulted in a fistfight between the 5 older boys.

The conversation died down after a while, Severus continued to look out the window lost in his thoughts. Sirius was a bit anxious, he wouldn't be going home this summer and he was thankful for that but even going with the Potter's made him feel a little nervous. Remus and Lily had discussed their grades and who might get head boy and girl, eventually, even that topic was talked out and they each pulled out a book to read. Peter had wandered out of the compartment at some point and Harry fell asleep.

Hours later the screeching of the train breaks brought everyone back to the moment as students along the train began searching for their trunks, pets, and other belongings. Severus pulled down his and Harry's trunks and assisted Lily, although she was perfectly capable of doing it herself he'd grown so much in the last year he could reach easily now.

"Dad!" Harry yelled out when he saw Tobias waiting for them on the muggle side of Platform 9 and ¾. Tobias opened his arms wide for his boys, he was so happy to have them back, he'd managed to see them a few times over the last few months, but a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon just was not the same thing as having them back home. After the long, uneventful, and surprisingly quiet, drive the Snapes finally pulled into the little parking lot their row of townhouses shared and began unloading the trunks.

/

The first weeks of summer went by quickly. Severus started up his job at the market again and spent most of his time at work, on an odd day that he was home he'd taken to working in the basement trying to turn it into a potions lab. Now that he was an adult wizard using magic was no longer an issue and thus spent many hours magically installing a proper ventilation system and potions disposal, transfiguring a work station and store cupboards that he hoped to fill up one day, and adding better lighting and generally just cleaning out the place more than he and Harry had done the year before. Despite 6 years of magical education under his belt, the use of magic for anything practical and usable was still new to the young man and as such there were many failed, often disastrous, attempts made. One early modification to the basement was an attempt to add a ventilation pipe over what would be the workbench, Severus almost blew a hole in the brick outer wall and started a small fire. After the room was again deemed safe Tobias had lectured for no less than 30 minutes about safety and not blowing up the house.

Tobias spent his summer mornings browsing the help wanted adds both in The Daily Prophet as well as The Cokeworth Chronicle and other nearby townships, he'd make calls in an effort to find work, often going on day jobs as a handyman or courier or even overnight for towns further away, if they paid enough to make it worth it. Every penny and knut was counted, it helped a great deal more than he let on that Severus was now able to do some magic, fixing a broken bulb was no longer a financial emergency.

"Dad?" Severus tentatively asked Tobias hated being interrupted when he was going through the paper.

"Mmmm?"

"Can I borrow the car on Thursday?"

Tobias looked up and raised an eyebrow, "I'll need it for work."

"Oh," Severus said a little disheartened "Could I have bus fare then?" normally he would have just used his wages but almost all of it was going towards paying bills these days and he had very little pocket money this year.

Tobias put down the paper and gave his son a hard look "What on earth for?"

"I need to go to London, to retake my apparition exam."

"Didn't you do that around your birthday?"

"Yes, sir."

"So, why do you need to go again."

Severus colored and looked down, admitting failure was never an easy thing, fortunately (or perhaps not) Harry took the opportunity to jump in.

"Oh, he failed," Harry informed Tobias matter of factly.

Tobias looked back at Severus in surprise, then frowned. "You should have told me."

"I was a little busy trying to save you from being possessed by Lord Voldemort, it must have slipped my mind," Severus responded with a sarcastic tone.

"Watch the attitude," Tobias warned his son, " But I'm sorry to say, I don't have any extra money this week. Bus fare to London isn't cheap. You'll just have to wait until I have a day off or I can save up."

Severus nodded and starred back down into his porridge, he had a narrow window allotted to retake the test, if he missed it he'd have to pay again for the exam and who knows how long it would take his father to save up for bus fair or even have a day off during the week. He quickly finished off his meal brought the dish to the sink and headed off to the grocers for his shift hoping to get a few extra hours of work.

Tobias ruffled Harry's hair and then headed out the door himself to his first job of the day, a housing complex on the other side of town was having a roof fixed up and the roofing company had put an ad out for more help. Tobias was eager for the job if they liked him there was a chance at getting called back for more work. Harry was left alone in their little house, it was still early morning but the summer heat was already making the little brick house feel like an oven. After cleaning up the dishes, a chore that naturally fell on him being the only one home, he headed out to the back garden to see if Danny was around to play.

It had become a sort of routine between Harry and Danny, after breakfast they'd go wander the neighborhoods, there was nothing really to do, the other side of town had the youth recreation center, but with the pedestrian bridge still out, there was no way for them to get there. Tobias had made his thoughts about the river quite clear last summer, but on rare occasions, Harry pressed his luck and went into the tempting water anyway.

/

Severus was exhausted, he was working as many hours at the store as Jenkins would give him, most of his pay went to his dad to help with the bills these days. He was pleased that with his first paycheck he had been able to buy himself a new (to him) denim jacket from the local thrift store and had even been able to go with Lily to a movie once. Even if he saved up every penny of the small amount he was generally able to keep it wouldn't be enough to buy a single book for next year or any of the equipment he would need for his own potions lab, even bus fare to London seemed impossible. He kept hoping that something would work out with the apprenticeship, so far no one had responded with intent to sponsor him. He felt increasingly disheartened when each morning the only owl that would arrive was for the daily profit, which Dumbledore had ordered for Tobias last year.

Thursday finally rolled around, Severus' day off. He was disappointed when Tobias left for work without mention of bus fare to London. The teen decided he'd have to figure out his way to get there but as he had absolutely no idea at the moment he headed down to the basement to continue his project of turning it into a lab. Harry had wandered out with Danny already, the boy had said something about looking for snakes, leaving Severus to look around the dingy but admittedly slightly less disgusting basement, his eyes fell back on the trunk he and Harry had found last summer. He had been sure that his father would have moved it elsewhere and that he'd never see it again. The potions book he had taken had proven to be very useful and wondered what other sorts of treasures his mom had left behind. Dad rarely mentioned his mother anymore, his last memory of her being when she hugged and kissed him goodbye and helped him on the train for his first year at school. Severus blinked away a tear brought on by the memory and sat down by the trunk. He set aside the photo album and several textbooks and began to look through the letters tied in a neat bundle.

 _Darling Eileen,_

 _I've missed you so much these last few months while you've been at school, I look forward to when you've finished so that we can start our lives together as we've talked about so often in the past._

 _Enclosed is a small trinket to remember me by._

 _-T_

Whatever had been enclosed with the little note had long since been separated from the letter. Severus smiled at the note, he never thought his father had a romantic bone in his body, then again to attract the attention of a witch-like his mother he would have had to put forth some serious effort. Most of the other letters had a similar style nothing very interesting thought Severus, although it did give him a few ideas if he ever did get up the nerve to let Lily know how he felt.


End file.
